Friday, November 5, 2010

A Quiet Night


When I was growing up every holiday was an event, and Halloween was no exception. My siblings and I would decorate the entire house, carve pumpkins, toast pumpkin seeds, help each other build our costumes, go trick-or-treating, and eventually get sick from eating ridiculous amounts of candy. As I moved into high school and my siblings moved away to live on their own, Halloween morphed into a time to go out with friends, get dressed up, cut loose, cause trouble, and still eventually get sick from eating ridiculous amounts of candy. College wasn’t really much different, except that the “trouble” got more interesting, the parties lasted longer, and the costumes generally got sluttier. 
Which brings us to now. The crazy parties have gone away, and I'm no longer excited by the idea of eating my weight in miniature candy bars. In fact, now that I've got a real life with a real job and a real girlfriend and real rent to pay I can barely be bothered to dress up for the occasion. My concept of "fun" has changed such that now all I really want is a nice relaxing evening at home carving pumpkins and making dinner with my lady.

Herb-brined Chicken, Roasted with Apples and Onions

This is a terrific dish to serve when the weather turns cold and you start craving comfort food. I've brined many a chicken in while working in restaurants, but it's not something I often think of doing at home. The process is deceivingly quick, as long as you make the brine and get your chicken into it the night before (or even that same morning), your actual working time is less than 30 minutes all together. The end result will be the juiciest, most flavorful chicken you've tasted.
Brine
  • 1/2 gal water
  • 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 bunch Fresh Thyme
  • 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1 head Garlic, cut in half horizontally
  • 1 small Onion, sliced
  • 2 T Pink Peppercorns
  • 1 ea Lemon, halved
  • 6 ea Chicken Drumsticks
Roasted Chicken
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp Butter, salted
  • 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 1 small Yellow Onion, diced
  • 1 Apple, Granny Smith or other firm apple
  • 1 bunch Fresh Thyme
  • 1 ea Lemon, quartered

Combine all ingredients for the brine except the chicken in a sauce pan on high heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, then remove from heat. Refrigerate until cool and then add the chicken. Let sit at least 8 hours, or preferably over night. Remove chicken from brine and rinse well, then pat dry. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
In a cast iron pan over medium high heat add the butter. Once the butter has melted add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, thyme, and lemon. Stir together and cook about 2 minutes, then place all ingredients in a casserole dish. Return the pan to heat and the vegetable oil. Sprinkle chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper then brown each side, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place in casserole dish with the apple onion mixture. Place dish in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees.

Tarragon Mashed Potatoes
I served the roasted chicken with these mashed potatoes. I've made them plenty of times in one form or another, but this is the first time I've actually written down a recipe for it. I make mashed potatoes without measuring (adding ingredients to taste) and I encourage you to do the same, but this recipe should serve as a good guide. If you've got other herbs around to use besides tarragon then use them.

  • 2 Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
  • 2 Tbsp Sour Cream
  • 1/4 cup Butter, salted
  • 1/4 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/4 cup Fresh Tarragon, chopped
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Simmer potatoes in heavily salter water until they yield easily to a fork. Drain well and return potatoes to the pot, add remaining ingredients and mash together until smooth.

3 comments:

  1. This sounds really good! If I can get my act together and get to the store in the morning, I am going to try this dish tomorrow. I've never done a brine...kind of excited :) thx!

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  2. Great! Glad I've inspired you to try something new, let me know how it turns out! It's always fun to get feedback on my recipes.

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  3. Wow! Yum! I don't know which I prefer... The lively flavor of the green apples and onions mixed with the subtle sweety licorice flavor of the potatoes... or the perfectly cooked, juicy chicken! I used thighs instead of drum sticks and it was great! So good!!!
    Thx!

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