Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [58]
2 lemons
Potatoes (optional)
1. The night before you plan to cook the chicken, mix the salt and pepper in a small dish. Sprinkle the chicken all over with the mix, and then gently work the skin free of the breast, keeping it intact, and spread the seasoning on the meat. Put the chicken in a bowl—no need to cover—and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Put the chicken in a 12-inch black cast-iron skillet, breast side down. Place half the butter in the cavity and smear the rest on top of the bird. Cut the lemons in half and place inside the cavity. Wash your hands with lots of soap.
4. If you are roasting potatoes, peel them and cut them into 2-inch chunks. When the oven is hot, put the chicken in and roast for 1 hour. (The potatoes go in after the chicken has cooked for about 10 minutes—drop them into the melted butter and chicken fat that’s beginning to accumulate in the pan.) The chicken is done when a leg moves easily in its joint. If you have an instant-read thermometer, stab it deep in the bird’s thigh. It should register 165 degrees F. If it doesn’t, return the chicken to the oven and test it again 5 minutes later.
5. Take the bird out of the oven and if you have time, let it sit for 10 minutes so the juices settle. If you don’t have time, go ahead and carve. The pan sauce is really good, so be sure to spoon some on each serving.
Serves 4
SALAD
How much do you dislike washing lettuce? I dislike it a lot. I used to sometimes buy a plastic box of “triple-washed” lettuce just so I didn’t have to wash it. I know some people wash it anyway, but what was the point of buying “triple-washed” lettuce if I was then going to wash it? What is the point of the “triple washing”?
One day I bought a 10-ounce head of organic red leaf lettuce for $1.99 and brought it home. It lost about 2 ounces when I chopped off the core and pulled off some ratty outer leaves. Cost of edible lettuce from the head: $4.00 per pound.
Meanwhile, a 5-ounce plastic box of prewashed organic mixed baby greens cost $4.99. Cost of edible lettuce from the plastic box: $16 per pound. I don’t hate washing lettuce that much.
People will eat more salad if there’s a chance the next bite will contain a toasted nut. Pine nuts are great, but they currently cost more than $30 per pound. Almonds are an affordable substitute, as are pumpkin seeds. They all are better toasted.
Another way to add crunch to your salad and upcycle stale bread at the same time: croutons.
CROUTONS
It’s ludicrous to the point of heartbreaking that factories are devoted to manufacturing pellets of stale-tasting bread that trucks then ferry all around the country. If factory croutons tasted good all that trucking might be worth it, but croutons from the box could double as packing peanuts, and vice versa. Moreover, they are often spiked with partially hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup has a place in pecan pie, but in croutons?
Make it or buy it? Make it.
Hassle: Enough that you’re not going to make croutons for every salad or bowl of soup
Cost comparison: Homemade croutons will cost you pennies to make and use up stale bread you would otherwise throw out. At my local safeway, Mrs. Cubbison’s Caesar Salad Croutons cost more per pound than lamb chops.
A few pieces of bread, fresh or stale
Olive oil or unsalted butter
Minced garlic, herbes de Provence, red pepper flakes, saffron, etc. (optional)
Salt
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Cut the bread into cubes, as large or as small as you like.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil or butter in a skillet. At this point you can add a few pinches of minced garlic or any herb or spice you choose. Sauté for 30 seconds.
3. Add the bread cubes and stir them around in the hot oil for a couple of minutes until they’re well coated and starting to form a crust. Sprinkle lightly with salt to taste.
4. Spread on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. They’re done when they’re crunchy