tomato_kumato

I’ve been meaning to post about this chicken recipe for awhile. I got it off Luisa’s site: it’s a recipe for spicy roasted chicken thighs. I accidentally forgot to mix the tomato paste in with the rest of the ingredients (I know… I’m insane), so after I had rubbed the chicken with the mix, I just kind of smushed some tomato paste on there as well. It turned out delicious, but as you can see, the color was a little bit different from Luisa’s.

Luisa, by the way, is starting to become my guru without even knowing it. I pretty much put every recipe on her site onto my list of recipes to try… and every time I try one, I end up loving it. Pretty soon, I’m going to have to hit up that famous lemon chicken. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should probably head over there and check out her site for yourself. Sorry for seeming like a stalker, Luisa… I’m going back to the chicken now.

I loved this chicken. I served it with spiced couscous and extra gravy from the pan. The Canadian, however, was a little skeptical. Sure, he said it was good and finished what was on his plate, but it’s the first time in the history of mankind that he didn’t ask for seconds. Oh well… that just meant that I got to have the leftovers with salad the next day… and take a picture, which I forgot to do the day before. Maybe it’s just a girl recipe…

“Festina tarde was a renaissance concept: make haste slowly.”

It’s taken me a long time to get to Under the Tuscan Sun, but it’s not for lack of cooking. On Saturday night, I threw a massive dinner party at my house. I invited ten people, and crafted a perfect menu: apératif of Tomato Bruschetta and Wild Mushroom Crostini, Risotto with Parmeggiano-Reggiano for a starter, and then Under the Tuscan Sun’s Chicken with Lemon and Basil. The dessert was tarte tatin. I spent all day Saturday prepping, making sure that everything would be easy once my guests arrived. I made the tarte dough, precooked my risotto (a restaurant trick I learned while waiting tables), made my salad dressing, tomatoes, and dressing for the chicken, and precooked the mushrooms. I had very little to do once my guests arrived.

… If they arrived. I guess one of the drawbacks of having so many international friends is not being aware of their customs. Example? Apparently, in a lot of South America, it’s considered rude to show up somewhere on time. So while my American friends arrived about ten to fifteen minutes late (like my mother told me, and apparently their mothers told them, you are supposed to do), the others didn’t show up for two hours.

Bear in mind, also, that this is rugby night in France, and France is playing England for a chance in the semifinals. We’ve opened the wine, eaten all the bruschetta, and the five of us have gotten quite tipsy while trying to find a way to watch the game online. When my friends finally arrived, I managed to get everything on the table (I forgot about the salad though), but my chicken didn’t brown the way I wanted to because I’d lost my sense of timing (thank you, Bordeaux), I didn’t have time to take any pictures of the plated dishes, and by the time we’d finished with the risotto and the chicken, we wanted to watch the rugby game, so we abandoned the finished pie in the cold oven and went down to the Champs de Mars.

The French lost, and the next morning I had to wash essentially all the dishes in my house. But later that evening, my friend Emese came by to help me finish the tarte tatin, and as we sat together on my couch, sharing half a pie between us, I realized that this was what I had wanted. Just to haves some friends, even one friend, over to my house, to cook something delicious, and to talk for awhile. I don’t know if I’ve learned how to make haste slowly, but I know that eating that one pie slowly was much more fun than any dinner party could have been.

The Menu:

Tomato Bruschetta

Wild Mushroom Crostini

Risotto with Parmeggiano-Reggiano

Basil and Lemon Chicken

In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup each of chopped spring onions and basil leaves. Add the juice of one lemon, salt, and pepper. Mix and rub onto 6 chicken pieces (I used chicken thighs) and place in a well-oiled baking pan. Dribble with a little olive oil. Roast, uncovered, at 450 for ten minutes and at 350 for about an additional twenty, depending on the size of the chicken. Garnish with more basil leaves and lemon slices.
Tarte Tatin

I have to say, I was very, very proud of this chicken. I don’t really know why… maybe it’s because even though I kind of used the recipe for Lemon-Herb Roast Chicken on Epicurious, I kind of realized that I know how to do a lot of things myself, like timing, stuffing the cavity with all sorts of citrusy goodness, and especially with dealing with the kind of chicken they sell in France.

When you buy chicken here, even in the grocery store, there are often a few feathers left on. I find it reassuring… it makes me feel like it’s fresher. But I had to go through with a tweezer and get them off, rinse the whole chicken, and remove the parts they left inside.

Maybe I’m so proud because my friend, who is a self-proclaimed cook of two things: cheese on toast and sausages, stood and watched in awe as I slid the butter beneath the skin, stuffed the cavity with lemons and garlic, and even made a cream gravy afterwards. Seeing her watch me reminded me of watching my mother before I first went to university, trying as hard as I could to glean any tips from her before I had a kitchen all to myself. I think that may have been what Emily was doing as I made chicken and mashed potatoes for her last night in Paris. And I was proud.

I seem to have a thing for this pose.

In other news, I have finally picked this month’s book of the month… Under the Tuscan Sun. This memoir by Frances Mayes, which inspired the movie starring Diane Lane, has two whole chapters filled with recipes, one for summer and one for winter. Because I’m in neither summer nor winter (although it is starting to feel desperately like fall), I’m going to take recipes from both sections. I obviously can’t do some of the summer recipes now, but I’ve found things like Bruschette con Pesto di Rucola, Wild Mushroom Lasagna, Ribollita, Rustic Apple Bread Pudding, Red Peppers Melted with Balsamic Vinegar… So many things to try, so little time! I’m off to the market tomorrow… hopefully you’ll have some new Tuscan recipes shortly! Ciao!

Combine 1 stick room temperature butter, 4 tablespoons herbes de provence, 3 large garlic cloves, minced, and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon peel in small bowl and stir to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Rinse 6 1/2- to 7-pound roasting chicken; pat dry. Slide hand under skin of chicken breast to loosen skin form meat. Reserve 2 tablespoons herb butter for gravy. Rub half of remaining herb butter over chicken breast under skin. Spread remaining herb butter over outside of chicken and some in the inner cavity. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with one lemon, cut into wedges, and one garlic clove. Place chicken in heavy large roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes, and then reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Roast chicken until juices from thigh run clear when chicken thigh is pierced with skewer, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Lift chicken and tilt slightly, emptying any juices from cavity into roasting pan. Transfer chicken to platter. Tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Note: Cooking times are always approximate. Make sure you check it early so it doesn’t overcook. If you’re not sure, use a thermometer: it should read 175 when inserted into the thigh.

Pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup. Spoon fat off top. Add 1/4 cup white wine to pan. Place pan over high heat; bring wine to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour wine mixture into cup with pan juices. Add enough chicken broth to same cup to measure 2 1/4 cups liquid. Melt reserved 2 tablespoons herb butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; whisk until smooth and beginning to color, about 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in pan juices. Boil until thickened to sauce consistency, whisking occasionally, about 7 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.