My plans changed for Thanksgiving with Gov Walz's (kind of) stay home order, such that I did not travel to see my sister and her kids in Iowa, and instead had a solo retreat for several days at home. It was totally luxurious, particularly because I was busier with work and was ready for vacation. I had stacks of compelling books to read or page through, and had leftovers all weekend! My thanksgiving harvest dinner featured a whole roast chicken, mashed sunchokes, roasted kabocha squash with salad, and roasted savoy cabbage. I also made some cranberry/date sauce at the last minute after remembering I still had frozen cranberries in the freezer from last year. I felt happy that all the veggies were from my garden, and was very pleased with how everything turned out. Yum.
This chicken preparation is really easy, and yielded a delicious, crispy skinned, very moist chicken. Thanks to my friend Allison for alerting me to this Samin Nosrat recipe, where all you do is salt your chicken and then marinate it in buttermilk for 24 hours before following some helpful instructions about chicken placement in the oven and cooking it. I didn't know Samin before this, but the trailer for her Netflix show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat looks good, primarily because she seems great. It is on my list for some winter viewing in lieu of my Top Chef obsession, and I like that they list some recipes, including this one, on the website. I didn't see a note until afterwards to use plain yogurt if you have no buttermilk. (I had been wondering b/c I needed to go to three stores for buttermilk!)
Samin's Chicken
- 3½- to 4-pound (about 1.5 kilograms) chicken
- Salt
- 2 cups (475 ml) buttermilk
The day before you want to cook the chicken, remove the wingtips by cutting through the first wing joint with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Reserve for stock. Season the chicken generously with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Stir 2 tablespoons of kosher salt or 4 teaspoons fine sea salt into the buttermilk to dissolve. Place the chicken in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag and pour in the buttermilk. If the chicken won’t fit in a gallon-size bag, double up two plastic produce bags to prevent leakage and tie the bag with a piece of twine.
Seal it, squish the buttermilk all around the chicken, place on a rimmed plate, and refrigerate. If you’re so inclined, over the next 24 hours you can turn the bag so every part of the chicken gets marinated, but that’s not essential.
Pull the chicken from the fridge an hour before you plan to cook it. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C), with a rack set in the center position.
Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and scrape off as much buttermilk as you can without being obsessive. Tightly tie together the legs of the chicken with a piece of butcher’s twine. Place the chicken in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or shallow roasting pan.
Slide the pan all the way to the back of the oven on the center rack. Rotate the pan so that the legs are pointing toward the rear left corner and the breast is pointing toward the center of the oven (the back corners tend to be the hottest spots in the oven, so this orientation protects the breast from overcooking before the legs are done). Pretty soon you should hear the chicken sizzling.
After about 20 minutes, when the chicken starts to brown, reduce the heat to 400°F and continue roasting for 10 minutes and then move the pan so the legs are facing the back right corner of the oven.
Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or so, until the chicken is brown all over and the juices run clear when you insert a knife down to the bone between the leg and the thigh.
When the chicken’s done, remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.
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| This is the mashed sunchoke view - they were so good! |
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