Tag: butter sauce

Salt-Roasted Chicken – Tastes Like Chicken

There’s no mystery why “Chicken” is one of the most popular
recipe searches ever. Everyone loves chicken, but it’s easy to get tired of, so we’re always on the lookout for new things to try. 

The problem is we get so tied up in adding things, that we
forget how amazing roast chicken can be when we take things away…like
everything, except a very generous dusting of kosher salt. 

When you prep a
chicken like this, and roast it in a very hot oven, the bird has no choice but
to cook and crisp up in its own juices, which results in very moist, flavorful
meat. Thomas Keller, who helped popularize this minimalist method,
argues that cooking the thighs/legs as quickly as possible in a very hot oven
prevents the breasts from drying out, and I tend to agree. 

Of course, no matter
how juicy and chickeny your chicken tastes, it can only get better garnished
with a little spoonful of thyme butter sauce. I wanted to remind everyone how simple it is to make these
quick, butter-based pan sauces. If you know how to make one, you know how to
make a thousand. 

The important thing to remember is that any time there’s a pan
sitting around crusted with caramelized meat drippings, you’re always only
three minutes away from a world-class sauce. I hope you give this a try soon.
Enjoy!



Ingredients for four portions:
1 big chicken, about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds
lots of kosher salt (coat the entire surface of the bird,
inside and out, with the salt, being extra generous on the breasts)
Roast at 450 F. for 50-60 minutes
For the sauce:
1 tbsp thyme leaves
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup chicken broth (plus all extra juices from rested
chicken plate)
2 tbsp cold butter cut in 4 pieces
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne, to taste
(Note: I’m totally guessing at measurements here, since you
kind of just splash stuff in. Use the force.)

Because Oyster Rockefeller Sounds Rich

There’s much debate over how many of America’s greatest
recipes got their name, but that’s not an issue with Oyster Rockefeller. Thanks
to the rich, money-colored butter sauce, this decadent creation’s name pretty
much wrote itself.

Besides the obvious, superficial reasons, associating your
new shellfish appetizer with the most affluent family of the day was a stroke
of social media genius. Hey, just because Twitter wouldn’t be invented for
another 107 years doesn’t mean people didn’t “retweet” things.

When Jules Alciatore invented the dish in 1899, he wasn’t
trying to create a classic, new American shellfish appetizer; he was simply
trying to replace snails in his diet. That’s right, what would become America’s
greatest seafood appetizer (sorry, crab cakes) was just a delicious work-around
for a serious shortage of French snails in New Orleans.

To say the customers of Antoine’s were happy with this local
substitution would be a huge understatement. They went crazy for it. The dish
quickly gained national attention, with the most famous celebrities,
politicians, and foreign dignitaries of the day stumbling over each to get a
plate or three.

The original secret recipe really is a secret; so all
versions, including mine, are just guesses. There is agreement among foodies
who study such matters that spinach was not part of the formula, but the much
spicier and more flavorful watercress was used.

Neither were mushrooms, bacon, ham, cheese, garlic, or any other
later day add-ons. Not that those ingredient aren’t good baked on top of
oysters, but that just wasn’t how Mr. Alciatore rolled. So if you are looking
for a special occasion appetizer that tastes, looks, and makes you feel (and
sound) rich, then I hope you give this oyster Rockefeller recipe a try. Enjoy!

Makes enough for about 3 dozen oysters Rockefeller:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) room temp
2 tbsp minced green onions, white and light green parts
2 tbsp diced celery
2 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon
2 tbsp fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 cup chopped watercress leaves
salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
2 tbsp Pernod liquor
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 dozen oysters on the half shell



Bonus How to Open Oyster Video!

My friend Tamar, from Starving Off the Land, does a much better job of showing how to open oysters, but that’s only because she raises them and gets a lot more practice! That, and she’s better at it. Also, a special thanks to Sky Sabin Productions for their fine work on this.

For some additional shucking info, and tons of oyster recipe links, you can also check out this article on Allrecipes.com. Enjoy!
 

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Pan-Roasted Halibut with Clamshell Mushrooms & Lemon Butter Sauce – Long in Name, Short in Shopping List

Above and beyond keeping things simple, and pardon the cliché, letting the natural goodness of the ingredients shine through, the beauty of a recipe like this pan-roasted halibut with clamshell mushrooms, is that there are just less things to possibly screw up. 

That should be great news to people terrified of making fish recipes. Brown some mushrooms, sear some fish, and finish with yet another simple and delicious pan sauce. That’s really it, and much like our famous, “Just Chicken and Mushrooms” recipe, I think you’ll be amazed at how much flavor these few components provide.


Speaking of flavor, you can certainly use a non-stick pan here, which pretty much insures your fish will go un-mutilated; but as you’ll see in the video, if you use cast iron, or stainless steel, a little bit of fish flesh will form a fond on the bottom of the pan, which will give you a much richer base for the butter sauce.


In case you didn’t already know, mushrooms and halibut have a natural affinity for each other, and both are wonderful with the lemon-parsley butter sauce. So, whether you fear cooking fish, or not, I hope you give this super simple, yet fabulous recipe a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 2 portions:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter, melted in oil
2 (7-oz each) halibut filets
salt and cayenne to taste
handful of clamshell mushrooms, or sliced un-cool, regular mushrooms
1/4 cup water
juice from 1/2 lemon, or to taste
1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 1/2 tbsp butter to finish sauce

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