Sure, Chicken Soup is for the Soul...But Roast Chicken is for Body AND Soul!

And now, right on the heels of a post about NOT needing meat in your entree is an entire post about meat! I know, you love how I think.

But you also love how I cook! At least that's what I hear! And nothing is better than the comforting, and celestial aroma that wafts from you oven when you're roasting a GOOOOD chicken. I can't make the perfect chicken, but I can make it butter...I mean better. Well, you know what I mean!

This recipe is inspired by the Standard Grill's Million Dollar Chicken as featured on The Barefoot Contessa. However, I decided to change things up a little when I discovered I did not have Creme Fraiche. It worked out perfectly. And you have NO IDEA how tender, juicy, and full of flavor this dish contains. I don't know how, in only 1 hour of cooking the flesh becomes so infused with flavors, but it does.

The secret, or the answer is most likely in the basting, and then the herbed butter that is slathered on at the end and allowed to crisp up during the last few minutes of cooking. Then, let the chicken rest. SO, SO, IMPORTANT.

And while we're on the subject of slathering, take a look at these beautiful Kadota figs from my friend's garden, that she laid atop Manchego cheese and then slathered with artisanal honey. DELISH. 

It's a wonder we didn't get arrested this meal was so sinful. Even the dessert was gasp-worthy. Your guests will stop breathing for a moment as well when you serve Brandy Poached Bosc pears and then top it with Cream Almondine and a small sprinkling of lavender sea salt. (Uh, they got eaten before I had a chance to take a photo.) Lucky for you the recipes are below!

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Scrumptious Herb and Butter Roasted Chicken

Click here for printable version.

• Ingredients
• Method

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​3-4 lb organic chicken
1 lemon
Handful of fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves grated
2 garlic cloves whole
¼ small white onion
½ C + good olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
3 T fresh flat leaf parsley
½ c unsalted butter
1 small shallot grated finely
1 C white wine
2 thick slices of hearty, crusty French bread

​Mix together the room temperature butter, the finely chopped parsley, the shallot, grated garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
 
Wash and pat dry the room-temperature chicken, being careful to remove all of the giblets from the inner cavity. Sometimes I trim off a bit of the extra fat at the opening, but it is up to you. Generously oil the bird, and then rub with generous amounts of coarse sea salt and ground black pepper inside the bird and out. I simply pour about 2-3 T of the salt into a small container so I can just grab and rub. Cut the lemon into 6ths, chop the onion into large ½ inch cubes, cut two of the garlic cloves in half, and stuff all of that, along with the handful of thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Using twine, tie the legs together to keep all the good stuff inside the bird. Drizzle more olive oil atop.
 
Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the two pieces of bread on the bottom, and add a bit more oil, and then place the dressed bird on top with the breast facing up. Pour the wine into the pan. Place in a 450 degree F oven and cook for about 60 minutes, or until juices run clear and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees F. Marinate the chicken with the juices every 15 minutes and about 5 minutes before chicken is done, (the juices will be a little pink, and the leg will just be starting to pull away from the body,) brush a good part of the herb butter mixture all over the top of the bird and cook for the remaining 5 minutes. Remove, test with thermometer, and rest bird, covered for 10-15 minutes.

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Brandy Poached Bosc Pears with Cream Almondine
​and Lavender Sea Salt

Serves 8 / Click here for printable version.

• Ingredients
• Method

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​4 medium ripe Bosc pears, peeled and cut in half, seeds removed
3 oz good brandy
1 C unfiltered apple juice
1/3 C + 3 T white sugar
Dash of cinnamon
3 C whipped cream (about 1 C heavy cream unwhipped)
1 t vanilla extract
½ t almond extract
Lavender sea salt (You can use pink Himalayan salt, too.)
Fresh mint for garnish

Rub the 1/3 C sugar all over the peeled, seeded and cut pear halves as you go to keep them from turning brown and to help caramelize when cooking. Then place the 8 peeled, seeded halves, with the stems on, open side up in a large baking dish. Drizzle the brandy over the top working to get the brandy mostly into the indentations and on the top of the pears. The rest will spill into the dish. That’s okay. Then add the apple juice to the pan, but don’t pour it over the pears. Sprinkle pears with a bit of the cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the pears are soft. Remove and cover with foil. They can remain in the pan, covered, on your counter for 3 hours.
 
Whip the heavy cream. When almost to stiff peaks add the vanilla, 3 T sugar and the almond extract. Whip those three ingredients in. Cover and keep in fridge until ready to serve.
 
To plate, use a shallow dessert bowl and place a half of the pear in the bowl. Drizzle with the juices from the baking dish. Add a generous dallop of the cream to the side a bit, partially covering the pear. Drizzle VERY LITTLE of the lavender sea salt atop. Only a few strategic granules are needed. Top with a bit of the chopped, fresh mint. Serve!