Lemon Curd + Black Pepper Roast Chicken (TTH)

Believe it or not, this my first ever experience roasting a chicken.  I know, weird, right?  But that kind of summarizes my whole kitchen story.

FOR THE BRINE

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns (optional)
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds [I would argue that coriander seeds and Szechuan peppercorns are similarly difficult to get.  Neither are all that obscure though you'll have to hit up both an Asian and Indian market unless of course it makes sense to hit up Christina's Spices and Specialty Foods.]
• 8 cups water
• Scant 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 fresh red Thai chile, slice, or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes [former]
• One 4- to 5-pound free-range chicken

Toast spice except for chiles.  Except, you know, I didn't notice.

Add 2 cups of water and salt.  Stir until salt is completely dissolved.

Remove from heat.  Add 6 cups of water and chile.  Let cool to room temperature.

Blais thinks you have to rinse the chicken for some reason, but ATK (which I usually hold as gospel) says this is unnecessary.  I swish some water around in the cavity and rinse that part.

Technically, you're supposed to brine the bird in a tall, narrow plastic container just big enough to fit the bird.  It was hard for me to settle on something without buying something new so I went with my enameled cast-iron dutch oven.  It's been showing battle scars lately, but I'm sure it's still very non-reactive.

Brine for at least 2 or 3 hours or preferably overnight.

FOR THE LEMON CURD

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Grated zest and juice of 2 leomns
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried [fresh]
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried [Now if there was a dried herb that really did look like pot, it's gotta be this one]
• 1 tablespoon water

Or, hey, you could just be lame and use 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd  mixed with two tablespoons of water, but don't expect me to respect you at the end of the day on this one.
Every time I make lemon curd, it tastes like a revelation.   I think I've had store-bought stuff before and it was not the same thing.

Lemon curd mise.

In a medium saucepan, whisk everything except the butter to combine.  Stir over low heat constantly until mixture is very thick and hot.  I stopped when it started looking like lemon curd since I've made lemon curd a few time over for MMB's Arnold Palmer Cake.

Remove from heat and whisk the butter in a little at a time until smooth.  Press mixture through fine-mesh strainer to remove the zest and inevitable lemon seeds.

Coarsely crush peppercorns and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle or on a cutting board with the bottom a small pan.  Though good luck with that second option.

Not that I once didn't have proper equipment before and still do not in all cases.

Mix this all up with the rosemary and sage.

Add 3/4's of the mixture to the lemon curd, along with the water, and stir to combine.

The perhaps weirdest thing about roasting a chicken for the first time is the whole loosening its skin so just can jab stuff under it, like a compound butter, herb paste, or in this case lemon curd.  It's hard not to think, "Well wouldn't it be weird if someone was doing this to me?"  Or am I psycho for thinking stuff like that?
Anyway, 1/2 the curd goes under there and then you paint the rest of the thing with lemon curd and sprinkle it with the remaining spice/herb mixture.

Pour 1 cup of water into baking pan with rack and chicken set on it.  Tie the chicken's legs together, and I guess you were suppose to tuck the wings in under the bird (Blais leaves out the darndest details about how to cook something).  Roast at 450 for 30 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 325 and continue roasting until the chicken is golden brown and juices run clear when thigh is pierced, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

I couldn't stop myself from picking at this.  I almost want to have one of these in my fridge constantly even though that'd probably be a bit dangerous.  Maybe this should be a biweekly thing.
Happy I didn't fuck up my first roast chicken.  Far from it.

Chicken Confit with Green Olives + Kumquats (TTH)

FOR THE DRY CURE

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 whole star anise, finely crushed with the side of a knife [Probably better done in a mortar and pestle]
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried [dried]
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest or dried orange peel [former]
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers [I did my best here in trying 3 different stores.  My third store was Christina's Spices and Specialty Foods in Inman which is the one store in Boston where if you can't find that spice/herb/rice/flour/tea/chile/pantry item here, you probably should order it online.  I guess they usually carry it, but they were all out.]
• 8 large bone-in, skin -on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), patted dry.

Mix it all up.

Pat thighs dry with paper towels.  Layer a third of the salt on the bottom of a pan that will hold the thighs as tightly as possible.  Throw in the chicken and evenly sprinkle another third of the salt in.  Pack the last of the salt so well that the chicken is completely covered.

Cover with another plate, pan, or saran-wrapped box of kosher salt in my case.  Weigh this down with a couple heavy cans.  Throw this in the fridge for a couple hours.

FOR THE CONFIT

• 2 cups vegetable or canola oil, or as needed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 whole star anise
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers (optional)

My pyrex isn't quite stove-top safe so I moved the operations to my dutch over where things are a bit roomier.  Pour over oil to cover the thighs you have rinsed of salt and patted dry again.  Toss the spices in and confit in a 300 degree oven for I don't know how long.  Blais doesn't tell you, but a paring knife met with no resistance at the 1 1/2 hour point.

Transfer thighs skin side up to baking sheet to drain excess oil.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of the confit fat (You can apparently strain it and use it as many times as you like for 30 days, but I don't really think I'm going to confit again so soon.).

Dip skin side down into the flour seasoned with black pepper and crisp up the skin over medium heat.

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 18 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeded, or 1 small tangerine, peeled and finely choppes, any seeds removed [After cooking this, I think it would be nuts to use a tangerine over kumquats, but if you need to use a tangerine to get you by...]
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives, such as Picholine or Cerignola
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sauce mise en place.

Toast the mustard seeds.

 
Add sugar and water and stir to dissolve.

Add kumquats and cook until they break down a bit.  Season with black pepper.  Later on, add olives.

You know, I've never been a fan of duck confit.  It's one of those hoity-toity ingredients I don't get that all foodies seems to love like foie gras that I simply can't fathom why they're interesting.

However, I do love cooking chicken thighs, it was fun to go through the confit-ing process using vegetable oil (rather than duck fat which will set you back a considerable amount unless you're rendering duck skin all the time), and...  This was insanely good.
Remarkably well-seasoned even without the lavender I failed to source.  Beautiful texture, beautiful skin, the kumquat-olive relish the perfect foil.  Great dish all around though not necessary one I'm going to cook all the time unlike the recipe in my next blog entry.