Our last meal of 2010

I recently bought a book by Pim Techamuanvivit called "The Foodie Handbook." In this book she goes over how to make a roast chicken. My boyfriend read the section on making a roast chicken and ever since, he has not been able to get it out of his mind. So when we were trying to decide what our NYE dinner should be, I suggested a roast chicken. It turned out perfect.... moist and tender with perfect mouthwatering flavor. So, for my first post, I will describe our last meal of 2010.

The menu:

Roast chicken with jus

Pan roasted potatoes

Steamed broccolini

Olive bread

Pumpkin cheesecake

How to make an amazing roast chicken (a synopsis from The Foodie Handbook):

I bought the chicken at whole foods fresh from the meat counter. It was approx 3.3 lbs. I washed it with water, then patted it dry with paper towels. Then I rubbed softened butter all over the chicken... and lots of it. Next, I rubbed kosher salt all over the outside (and inside of the chicken), as well as freshly cracked pepper. I stuffed it with about 5 cloves of garlic, 3 quarters of an onion, rosemary, and thyme. The chicken was placed ON ITS SIDE in a 8 x 8 inch glass pyrex dish and I put a few more sprigs of rosemary and thyme next to the chicken, as well as 2 heads of garlic (with the tops cut off). I then baked it at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, I pulled it out, basted it and flipped it over to its OTHER SIDE (and added a little more butter), where it baked for another 30 min. It then came back out of the oven and was basted and turned breast side up where it baked an additional 20 minutes. When it came out of the oven this time, it was finished. I placed it on a platter with the breast facing down and the tail up and covered it with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes before cutting it (Pim T talks about how this is done so that the juices settle down to the breast of the chicken). And man... it was GREAT!! The jus was then made by deglazing the pan with red wine and a splash of red wine vinegar. This was finished off with a little more butter. (The butter was definitely not lacking in this dish... I put a load of it in the roasted potatoes, too.) 

A quick note on the olive bread: it was made using a Clement Clayworks pot that I received as a Christmas gift. The recipe came along with the pot.... it was good (and not too difficult to make). The company that sells these pots is located in Springfield, MO. The email on the recipe card was: clementclayworks@yahoo.com, in case you're interested. 

Finally, a brief mention of the pumpkin cheesecake... it's a double layer cheesecake with a gingersnap crust. I got the recipe from a friend... not sure where she found it. Maybe I'll post it sometime soon.