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While we eat a LOT of vegan and vegetarian meals, I do like to serve some kind of meat for Shabbat along with whole grains and lots of salads or salatim. (Many wonderful examples can be found on my blog.) This No Recipe Shabbat or Sunday Dinner is the perfect answer to wanting something that feels (and tastes) special but requires very little work or planning.
In over 50 years of cooking, I have made quite a few roast chicken dinners, several of which you can find on this blog. And while each of them was good, this version, based on Thomas Keller’s recipe, is the best. And how great is it when the best recipe is also the simplest? For those of you unfamiliar with Thomas Keller, he is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation. We would say that he has yichus (loosely translated as “pedigree.”)
Now of course, you can switch up the sides to suit your tastes, but I am giving you two delicious examples that take next to no prep or cooking time and still feel special.
When I was growing up in a suburb of New York, we used to have our chickens delivered to our door by Irving the Chicken Man. He also brought us fresh farm eggs and – pizza. I have no idea how the pizza fit in and the reason is lost to memory, assuming that I ever knew. But the chickens were wonderful. Unlike today’s supermarket chickens – even organic ones – these chickens were relatively small, averaging around 3 pounds, and were very flavorful. When I went shopping for my whole chicken, it was impossible to find any under 4 to almost 5 pounds. Those would have been considered stewing chickens and were used primarily for soup.
Short Rant
Poultry today is over-bred for large breast meat to suit all of those people who have been told that the more flavorful thigh meat is bad for you. To me, these chickens are less flavorful and can more easily become rubbery. But it appears that is what people want. They don’t know what they are missing. Okay, rant over.
Back to Business
No Recipe Shabbat or Sunday Dinner is accompanied here with a simple roasted broccoli and whole wheat couscous. When you use really good ingredients, simple preparations are the best. Why drown out the natural flavors of the food with added sauce or too many spices? (Is this another rant?) While I like to buy my broccoli whole to cut myself, if you are short on time or just don’t love cooking, you can always find pre-cut broccoli florets. And if you don’t like broccoli, you could use cauliflower or a mixture or any veg that you prefer.
The original recipe called for a 2 to 3 pound chicken, which I cannot find around here. It also gave an optional herb baste for the chicken. But this sacrifices the crispy skin, so I don’t do it. If you want to serve a gravy that is your choice. For me, the chicken is juicy, oh-so-flavorful and the crispy skin is a treat that I only allow myself rarely. So I don’t need anything more than a few of the pan drippings drizzled over the serving. But you do you. (NOTE: Keller believes that the crispy, fatty tush of the bird is the cook’s treat. (My mother, who came from a Socialist/secular background called it The Pope’s Nose) And Keller is right! Is it healthy? No. But every once in a while, eating something a little unhealthy is just fine.)
The biggest problem that my husband and I had with the chicken was knowing when to stop eating it. After we ate what was on our plate, we kept walking by the chicken and stealing juicy bits of meat and crispy skin!
The bird I am cooking is 4 pounds – the smallest I could find after going to 3 grocery stores. So I have adjusted the timings from the Thomas Keller version. I chose roasted broccoli because it can roast in the same temperature oven as the chicken only for a shorter period of time. Whole wheat couscous is a wonderful choice when you don’t have the time or inclination to fuss. It is readily available online and in a number of grocery stores. Not only is it delicious, but it is ready in 5 minutes! Just boil a liquid of choice, pour it over the couscous, cover it and wait 5 minutes. That’s it! I do use a flavorful EVOO in the preparation and some chicken broth but nothing else is needed. Fluff and enjoy. Of course, if you prefer to cook rice or some other grain, they all work.
This dinner will easily feed 4 to 6 people, with no leftovers. Of course, this needs to be adjusted if you are feeding teenagers. My husband’s mother said that when he was a teenager, she made one chicken for the rest of the family and one chicken for him! Since leftover roast chicken has so many uses, make two, if you like.
Recipe for Roast Chicken
Ingredients
4-pound whole chicken, dried inside and out with a paper towel (remove giblets, if you are lucky enough to have them included)
Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. If you have the time, take the chicken out of the fridge an hour before you start to roast it.
Liberally sprinkle the dried chicken with the salt and black pepper, inside and out. Do this from several inches above the chicken to get nice, even coverage. Normally I am not a huge salt consumer but for this, I use about 1 Tablespoon of salt for the entire chicken.
Using kitchen twine, tie the chicken legs together at the ends. Tuck the wings underneath. (I am currently living in a temporary rental while our apartment is being renovated. As it turns out, I took neither twine nor a meat thermometer with me. So we improvised. We used a nylon elastic from a bead-stringing kit and I did the loose-leg test to see if the chicken was done.)
Place the bird, breast-side up in a non-stick pan or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. (You don’t want this in a deep pan. Yes, it will spatter your oven, but it will give a great result.)
Roast until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F. Do not touch the bone when using a thermometer. This will take about 90 minutes on a 4-pound bird. (Ovens vary, so using a thermometer is the safest way to tell if poultry is done.) If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, the bird is done when you can easily wiggle the leg and thigh to the point that it almost comes disconnected from the main part of the bird. If you are lucky enough to find a smaller bird, it will take about an hour.
Once the bird has reached 165 degrees, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes to absorb all of the juices and to finish cooking. If you tent the bird with foil, you will lose some of the crispiness in the skin so I don’t advise it.
When you are ready to serve, drizzle some of the pan juices over the cut pieces.
For the Broccoli
Cut 2 heads of broccoli into florets. (I like different sizes so there will be a variety of textures in the finished product.) I cut the tough part of the stem away and slice and use the tender stem and any nice leaves.
Place all of the broccoli on a half-sheet pan and drizzle well with EVOO or avocado oil. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.
While the chicken is resting, place the sheet pan in the oven and roast the broccoli to your desired doneness. At 450 degrees, this should only take 15 to 20 minutes. Alternatively, if your oven is large enough, you can place the pan of broccoli in the oven with the chicken for the final 20 minutes.
Now serve and enjoy!
