Missing Anthony Bourdain (Roast Chicken)
I admit to being a foodie. I love to cook, I love to eat out at restaurants, I love to dissect everything I eat. When I travel I hunt out the local favorites, my philosophy, eat where the locals eat. Hot chicken in Nashville, BBQ in Austin, Tacos in Los Angeles, Lox and Bagels in NYC, my bucket list goes on and on. I drove four hours for pie for Pete’s sake. My favorite movies include Chef and Tampopo. I binge watch Japanese & Korean dramas on Netflix like Samurai Gourmet and Let’s Eat-Must See Foodie TV, and re-watch episodes of Chef’s Table over and over again.
Parts Known and Loved
Sunday evening CNN’s Parts Unknown is appointment TV for me. My foodie world was rocked last week when Anthony Bourdain committed suicide. Parts Unknown was unique. Not content with showing places through rose-colored glasses, the show found the edgy parts, counter-culture, fringe elements or disenfranchised. He didn’t shy away from talking about politics, injustice, or controversial topics. But his approach was disarming, ask the hard questions over a shared meal and drinks and be genuinely interested in the answers. His journeys strove to capture the heart and soul of each place he visited, to tell a story. My favorite episodes? Hanoi with President Obama, Koreatown and Eastside episodes in Los Angeles, Iran, and Shanghai, I traveled vicariously through his show.
When his book, Appetites came out, I eagerly snatched up a copy. I loved just flipping through it. I read, laughed and savored his storytelling and irreverence. His recipes screamed, “this is the stuff I like to eat and share with family and friends, I don’t give a shit if you like it or not” Now, I felt I had to cook out of it, my own tribute to Mr. Bourdain and personal catharsis.
I made his Roast Chicken, it just seemed like a good starting point.
The recipe is loosely written (is that code for poorly edited? You be the judge). A 2-1/2 pound chicken? I used a 4-1/2 pound chicken which worked fine. I placed the chicken on a bed of chopped carrots, onions, leeks, garlic, and celery to roast just like the photo in his book despite the fact that the recipe does not call for veggies. Does it make a difference? Don’t know, but I have a sneaking suspicion it would be fine either way.
It was simple, delicious, the perfect comfort food to soothe the soul and mend the heart.
Roast Chicken by Anthony Bourdain
Ingredients
- 1 best-quality chicken about 2 1/2 pounds, preferably organic (ok, my chicken was 4-1/2 pounds) where you get a 21/2 pound chicken 🤷🏻♀️
- Sea salt to taste
- Crushed black peppercorns to taste
- 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 1/2 lemon cut into 4 wedges
- 1 cup dry white wine
- Juice of 1 lemon about 2 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450˚F.
- Rub the bird inside and out with salt and crushed peppercorns.
- Stuff a 1/2-tablespoon pat of butter under the skin of each side of the breast, and under the skin of each thigh.
- Stuff the thyme, bay leaf, and lemon wedges into the chicken’s cavity.
- Use the tip of a paring knife to poke a small hole in the skin just below each of the chicken’s legs, and tuck each leg carefully into that hole. (You may also truss the chicken with butcher’s twine if you know how, but this is much simpler.)
- Place the chicken in a flame-proof roasting pan* and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan, moving it to different parts of the oven to account for hot spots, and basting the bird two or three times with a bulb-top baster or long-handled metal spoon.
- *Place chicken on a bed of chopped vegetables including carrots, onions, celery and garlic.
- Reduce the oven’s heat to 300˚F and continue to roast, basting frequently, for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the bird is done: When you poke the fat part of the thigh with the paring knife, the juices should run clear.
- Remove the bird from the oven, let it rest 15 minutes, then remove the breasts and legs from the carcass, reserving everything. Use a ladle to skim off and discard as much surface fat from the pan juices as possible.
- Place the roasting pan on the stovetop over high heat and stir in the wine and lemon juice, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge and dissolve the browned bits. Bring this mixture to a boil and cook until it is reduced by half. Stir in the stock with the wooden spoon, bring to a boil, and reduce again by half. Remove from the heat and strain this sauce through a sieve into a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, a tablespoon at a time, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Fold in the parsley and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as necessary.
- Serve the chicken—half of the breast plus a drumstick or a thigh per person—with the sauce ladled over, and any remaining sauce in a sauceboat on the table.
- Appetites
