Toasted then Roasted

The last time I flew, I found a copy of Real Simple in my seat pocket. I was flying back, hung over, from a friend's wedding in Chicago. The happy couple is Irish and the dancing and drinking didn't stop until 6 am. Reeking of lager, a mere shell of a human being, I boarded an early flight with a throbbing head. In this frail and vulnerable state, too queasy to contemplate the wonders of the Sky Mall catalog, I was idly flipping through the magazine when I saw a recipe for roasted chicken.

I liked the picture: pieces of golden, crispy-skinned chicken surrounded by red potatoes and sprigs of rosemary, resting in deliciously fat-speckled juices. It looked beautiful and, um, real simple. I've looked at thousands of recipes in thousands of magazines and never been moved to cook any of them. But this picture and this recipe spoke to me. It said Home. Mother. Sunday dinner. Safety. Warmth. Love. Comfort. (Though, for the record, my mother has never roasted a chicken that I know of.)

I stared at the picture for a long time. I read the recipe, slowly, at least fifteen, maybe twenty times, drinking it in, lingering over it, savoring it. This was the thing that was obviously missing from my life. I needed to start cooking REAL food. Food cooked IN the oven, not ON TOP of the oven. Food that takes hours to cook, not minutes. I needed to make food with substance. Then, if my figures were correct, I would have substance! "I'm going to cook a chicken," I said to myself. It felt good, like an oath, a vow, a prayer. I said it again with a little more volume, "I'm going to cook a chicken!" The man in the aisle seat nodded, smiled politely and returned to reading his Wall Street Journal.

The ingredient list was simple and straightforward:
a whole chicken (cut up)
saltpepper
olive oil
small red potatoes
rosemary
* as an variation they suggested adding mushrooms and a pint of grape tomatoes

When I have an idea I like to do it immediately, so I dropped off my luggage, went directly to the corner market and bought all the ingredients, including the mushrooms and tomatoes. I didn't have a proper roasting pan so I used a huge stainless steel stock pan, the only oven-safe dish in the house large enough to contain my bounty. I put the chicken in and covered it with oil, salt and pepper. Then I tossed the rest of the ingredients in a bowl with more oil, salt and pepper and poured those ingredients on top of the chicken — all within 20 minutes of getting home from the airport.

I know roasting a chicken is supposed to be pretty basic stuff but it was breaking new ground for me. Up until this point the only thing I had cooked in an oven was frozen pizza. I pre-heated the oven to 400, took a deep breath, tossed the pan inside and shut the door to wait out the 45 minutes of cooking time. After 20 minutes the most amazing smell filled the apartment. I was really happy. This was going to be great. At 45 minutes I stabbed a meat thermometer into a thicker part of a breast: 160 degrees. Hmmm. The recipe said it should read 180 (so did the booklet that came with the meat thermometer) so I stuck it back in for another 15 minutes until the breast registered 180.

It looked good and smelled great, but there were some problems. A) The chicken was too salty. I just used too much sea salt. Later I realized I used tablespoons instead of teaspoons: a rookie mistake I won't repeat. B) Some of the larger potatoes were not completely done. Obviously size was a factor but I also noticed that the potatoes in the center of the pan were not as well-done as those around the edges (especially the potatoes touching the edges). The center potatoes were also on top of the chicken so they weren't touching any juices or parts of the hot pan. C) Some of the mushrooms and tomatoes looked shriveled and dry. These were also on top of the chicken pieces and not down low in the pan with all the juices. I also realized I may not have tossed them so well with the oil before placing them in the pan.

On the positive side, the chicken tasted great and was perfectly cooked - very moist and juicy. The sprigs of rosemary scented the whole dish nicely. I was satisfied with my first efforts but knew I could do better. Two weeks later I was ready for Round 2. It went much smoother. I purchased a real Le Creuset roasting pan (ooh la la). I cleaned the chicken and patted it dry with paper towels, rubbed each piece with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I tried to get smallish potatoes and if I couldn't I just cut them in half (same with the mushrooms). This time I tossed everything more evenly in the oil. I didn't use more oil, just took more time in tossing and coating. I placed everything in the bottom of the pan, then put the chicken on top.
I made sure that all the potatoes were touching the pan and all the mushrooms and tomatoes would be swimming in the juices. I also dropped four cloves of garlic in the pan. After 45 minutes at 400 I pulled it out and the thigh registered 195. I guess the new roasting pan might've helped speed up the cooking time. All the potatoes were cooked through and the mushrooms and tomatoes were soaked in juice and very, very delicious. The chicken itself was again very moist, flavorful and tender. I was pleased. This Sunday I'm going to add some different autumn veggies and see how those turn out. I know you'll be dying to see what happens.