Text 31958, 107 rader
Skriven 2009-12-08 22:39:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DAVE DRUM
Ärende: BK stuff
================
-=> Quoting Dave Drum to Dave Sacerdote <=-

 DS> McDonalds...
 DD> McDouble

I'm in correspondence with the local McDonald's franchisee. His email
moniker is "McIgloo" which made me smile.

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Roast Chicken, Christian Delouvrier's Way
Categories: Chicken
  Servings: 4

           chicken
           salt
           pepper, opt'l
           thyme
           garlic
           butter
           soy sauce

This roast chicken recipe came to me from Laurent Manrique the chef
at Aqua. We were talking about deceptively simple dishes that
shocked us with their greatness. That's when Laurent brought up
this roast chicken recipe he learned from Christian Delouvrier.

Christian Delouvrier is something of a legend, an old-school chefs'
chef kind of character. When Delouvrier was the chef at the
restaurant Alain Ducasse in NYC it was the apex of that restaurant.

"You take a chicken and you put in a lot of salt, a lot, on the
inside, *inside*, and put a lot of thyme and a lot of garlic.  Then
you rub it with butter all over, *a lot* of butter.  Unsalted
butter, no salt on the outside at all.        Then you bake it at 350F,
yes, that low, for 40 minutes.        Then you take it out and let it rest
15 minutes.  During that time, you make a reduction of same amount
of water and soy sauce, then you do like a beurre fondu.  Reduce it
to the consistency of a good jus. Then when the chicken is done
resting you brush it all over with mix.  Then you put back the
chicken, 15 minutes more at 400F.  Then remove the chicken and let
it rest for 10 minutes.  Then you cut up the chicken to serve.

A few more crucial details about the recipe: The resting periods
are very important as the chicken cooks at such a low temperature
for a long time.  He also recommended using *a lot* of salt, far
more than the usual amount.  The inside of the chicken would be so
salty as to render the carcass unusable - can't keep it for stock or
anything. Laurent also mentioned that the thighs might be slightly
undercooked, but if that happened I shouldn't panic, as putting them
back in the oven for 5-10 minutes more should do the trick.

When I did it: I must have used two big handfuls of salt and many,
many turns of the peppermill.  I stuffed it with two heads of garlic
cut in half crosswise, and a big handful of thyme. (When you tell a
Thai girl to use a lot of garlic you'd better not be kidding!)
Then I rubbed that baby all over with soft butter.  When a Frenchman
tells you to use a lot, *a lot*, of butter you take him seriously.
I think I used about 4 oz of butter, almost a full stick.  (Frankly
that's probably a bit over board. I'll use a little less next time.)

I preheated the oven to 350F, actually, and put the chicken in.
Just about half way through the 40 minute period, I started working
on the glace.  I mixed 1/3 cup each of water and soy sauce in a
small saucepan and set it on a medium fire.  I let it reduce by
about half, the whisk in the butter, about 5 Tablespoon or 75g.  I
let it simmered for a bit longer to thicken even more, and the
result looked about like this.

After 40 minutes (basting once or twice with the melted butter at
the bottom of the pan) I took the chicken out, and turned the oven
back up to 450F. The I brushed it all over with the glace.  Now this
chicken is ready to get back into the oven.

The chicken hung out in the hot oven for 15 more minutes.  I turned
the pan once during that time to make sure the chicken was cooked
evenly.  This time I didn't baste it at all.  At the end of the 15
minutes mark, out came the chicken from the oven.

It rested for the full 10 minutes, then we cut it up for serving.
Sure enough, the thighs were just this side of done, so they went
back to the oven for five more minutes, that's all. The chicken was
plump and juicy still.        The skin wasn't crisp, but certainly made up
for that shortcoming with the gooey, salty, deliciously sweet flavor
from the glace. It was so good we kept taking bites before the
plate went out to the table.

Was it worth it, this recipe? You bet. My respect for Christian
Delouvrier (and Laurent too for that matter) went up another notch.
If for you a roast chicken is all about the crisp skin, this might
not be for you.  But if you're in it for the juicy, flavorful meat,
go for it.  You won't be disappointed by this unique recipe.

From: Chez Pim

MMMMM-------------------------------------------------

Cheers

YK Jim


... A member of the salty, greasy, crunchy food group.

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