Snacko Backo

I’m not quite sure what just happened in my oven, but I am pretty sure it was magical. Lest we think I am not humble— let me explain the sensation—outer super crispy skin—and fall-off the bone succulent meat. How is this even possible? High heat, apparently. Welcome to the tastier and faster way to make chicken. Sam pointed me to this recipe— which gives us the method. She also said- sometimes when she runs out of lemons- she puts orange in the cavity. So, I took this idea- and used orange—and added that extra amazingness of Five Spice. If you don’t have/know this—it is an amazing Asian spice blend—that is warm and delicious- made from Szechwan pepper, star anise, fennel, cinnamon and cloves. You can find it most places- or you can mix up your own (which I once did in a pinch in Andorra to make some of Sydnie’s Taiwanese stew.) Other than that, I was mostly faithful to Thomas Keller’s method. One super genius move- that I think gets you’re the extra crispiness- not butter or oil on the skin. Instead, a pat of butter melting over it after you take it out of the oven- amazing! Now of course, the take-away here is the method- feel free to experiment w. spices- or keep even more faithful to the original recipe.

ALSO- I did these on a bed of roast potatoes. Which amazingly- with the high heat and the chicken drippings- turned into a fry-like texture. I had small potatoes, a i chopped into big chunks, coated w. olive oil, salt & pepper. placed at bottom of the pan.

Thomas Keller’s- My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken from Epicurious.

1 2-3 pound chicken [mine was 3 1/2 pound]

salt & pepper

Keller- 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

tessa- five spice & 1 orange

Preheat to 450.

Rinse chicken. Dry well (!) this gives you crispier skin. Salt and pepper the cavity. Keller says truss the bird (which I didn’t). Sprinkle bird generously with salt.–he  rains the salt over the chicken to get an even coating (about a tablespoon, he says). Season with pepper to taste. Cut orange in half (mine happened to be juiced- because I needed it for some cranberry chutney.) Sprinkle chicken lightly with a big pinch of five spice, if using.)

Now. Keller says:

“Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don’t baste it, I don’t add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don’t want. Roast it until it’s done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.”

And perhaps with a sauté pan- or  if you use a rack- your bottom half of the chicken would get nice and crispy too. But because I was on a bed of potatoes, this made steam. So after 30 mins, I took the chicken off, moved around the potatoes, and placed the chicken upside down for 15 mins (this gave color to the very pale underside). Then, I flipped back over- moved the potatoes one more time- for the last 15 minutes. I cooked mine for 60 minutes, because it was just larger than what the recipe calls for. Let rest.

Keller continues:

“Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I’m cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook’s rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You’ll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it’s so good.”

Note: The more weight the bird is- longer it takes to cook- so pay attention to the size of your bird. As a frame of reference- and not too far off- Ina Garten roasts her chicken (5-6 pounds) at 425 for 1 ½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. I don’t want to confuse things. I just want to tell you people are always way more nervous—about not cooking the chicken enough- when you really could be worried about not over-cooking it.

I am so excited  for this GUEST POST from DOLORES. We worked at the BM together for years- and I have been begging her to post. One time she brought me in some of this stew- I was dying, it was so good.

_____

Tessa: Wow, Dolores, this is mighty impressive. And i know, from a glorious sample, it is absurdly tasty. How did you learn how to do this?

Dolores: Although I am an Italian/Finnish-American girl and not in the least bit West Indian, my husband is from Trinidad and after six years together I have picked up a thing or two in the kitchen.  We both love to cook and we cook together often.  Mostly, I leave the Trinidadian dishes to him, but I have this one down, so I usually make it for us.  You can do the same cooking method with any meat, most often chicken.  My stewed chicken just doesn’t come out as well as his, so he has that assignment.  I guess the oxtail is more forgiving with all the braising time.  You really can’t mess it up, I swear.

Tessa: So let’s say I can’t find oxtail. Or it freaks me out. (not to eat but to buy). Could I use beef? any particular kind? would it change the cooking or cooking time or anything else? Do you think something would really be lost in this- and i should just sack up and look for the oxtail? Do i need a cleaver to hack it up- or does it come in those pieces?

Dolores: Oxtail is not really from an ox.  What you’re buying these days is a cow tail, but I guess the name is a holdover from olden times.  Aren’t the kids these days into snout to tail butchery and all of that?  You should be able to get it at any butcher shop, even if they don’t have it out on display.  Ask them.  It used to be a super cheap–my dad worked in an Italian butcher shop in Brooklyn when he was a teenager and he says they used to give it away.  Then American people discovered world cuisine and fast-forward to 2012 and I pay about $5 a pound for it.  It may be cheaper in a place where it isn’t used as widely as in my neighborhood.  If you find it, you should not have to cut it up yourself.  I can’t imagine how you would cut through it without a bandsaw, like they have in the butcher shop.  If it’s not already cut up, ask them to cut it into rings.  If you REALLY really can’t find it, the closest thing would probably be a beef shank.  You can probably use any kind of beef, but the marrow in the middle of the bone makes for ultimate yumminess, like in osso buco.

Tessa: mmm, not going to lie, this looks a little complicated. how do you feel about fed-exing some to boston? 🙂

Dolores: Anytime, my dear.  But I swear it’s not hard at all.  After you add the water, it’s just time.  After you make it for yourself and realize how easy it is, I will lose my kitchen cred.

Trinidadian Style Stewed Oxtail

2-3 lbs(?) oxtail, cut cross-wise into about 2 inch circles–[there are a lot of bones, so you will probably need more than you think you will]

a few heaping Tbsp of green seasoning*
4-5 Tbsp of sugar–white or raw

a large onion, chopped
1-2 carrots, cut into biggish circles

a piece of squash–in my neighborhood they call it pumpkin, and it is similar to the halloween-type pumpkin, but not quite. Any orange-y squash like butternut or kabocha or whatever you like will work, peeled and cut into fairly small cubes. [i used maybe kabocha, i think, though perhaps it was a little on the small side]
A scotch bonnet or habanero pepper (optional) [i pussied out and used a whole jalepeno, and really, the end product was missing that heat. i should have at least chopped it up and put it in- instead leaving in whole and taking out later like D. does w. the REAL peppers]
A can of red kidney beans

salt, pepper, adobo, parsley, bay leaf, oregano, crushed red pepper [use a generous pinch of each- i didn’t have adobo seasoning so used mix of cumin, onion and garlic powder and tumeric]

If there’s a lot of extra fat around the pieces of oxtail, cut it off. Rinse it with lime juice (you can totally skip that, but it’s what the West Indians do). Season with green seasoning, salt and black pepper. Let it marinate for at least a couple of hours; overnight is ideal. Heat a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven over high heat with a enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Let the oil get very hot but not smoking. Sprinkle in the sugar. You will want to have the meat ready and next to the stove. Heat the sugar until it gets very brown, almost but not quite black. Use a slotted spoon to pull the meat out of any accumulated liquid and add it to the pot immediately. Stir to coat with the caramelized sugar and lower the heat to medium. Cover the pot and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often to avoid sticking. When the meat has taken on a dark brown color, add the onions and pumpkin and stir a couple of times. Add enough water to just cover the meat and veggies. Season with salt, pepper, adobo, parsley, bay leaf, oregano, crushed red pepper, and add the scotch bonnet if you’re adding it. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Cover the pot at a tilt to allow steam to escape. Cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.  After it’s been cooking for a while, you may notice some fat pooling on the surface. If so, skim it off.  As soon as the pepper gets soft, pull it out. If it bursts open, your stew will be ridiculously hot. This will happen way before the oxtail cooks, so keep an eye on it as you’re stirring. Also, the pumpkin should totally disintegrate and thicken the stew. If it needs a little help, smash it against the side of the pot to break it up. After about 2 hrs, check the meat with a fork. Sometimes it will seem like it will never break down, but don’t freak out as I promise it will happen, and it may take more like 3 or even 4 hours.   When the meat is soft-ish, add the carrots and the beans and cook for another 20 or so minutes, until the carrots are cooked. Serve over rice. It’s really good with a piece of avocado and/or a little potato salad, too.

* Green seasoning: [this keeps]
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
a couple of inches of ginger, peeled

 Since I can’t give you these- because they are on my fridge, I think you should print out and hang on yours. all you need to know. i’d love to steal Jess P. measurement conversion magnet too. The first tells you how to store all your fruits and vegs– courtesy of Boston Organics- my faux-CSA. The second is actually just a postcard- but it tells you the right- and simplest way to cook any meat. It came from a Park Slope butcher. Grass fed. Organic. Local. Bla Bla Bla.

But let also tell you how I cook almost every single piece of meat. Like my lamb chops last night, holy cow. And the duck the night before that. Seriously. Everything. And i think i wrote this somewhere else on my site- but let me reiterate so that you start to do it too. After bringing the meat to room temp if possible. and salting ahead of time (as above). After searing meat on very hot pan. And putting in oven if so required. Take meat out and rest it (very important). In pan, pour out some of the fat if there is a ridiculous amount, but leave some in there. Take off heat. Pour in some healthy glugs of that old wine you keep in the fridge- the bottles gone bad. I always keep. Turn heat back up until high. It will start to bubble and thicken. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bits off the bottom of pan. You want to keep on heat until it is thick enough that when you run the spoon down it, it leaves a path. Finally, add the dripping in that accumulated from the rested meat. Heat for like another 10 seconds to go all together and blend around. That’s it. If you were feeling crazy you could add some butter in, but the amount of fat I leave in the bottom of the pan, it is never necessary. Pour over meat. You are going to die of surprise how good this is.