Poulet Roti (Roast Chicken)

Nothing says cuisine like Julia Child... am I right?  After watching the movie Julie & Julia with Husband, I mentioned that I would love to have my own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  Husband did not disappoint, as I found the set of Volumes 1 and 2 under the Christmas tree!  Of course, that was Christmas 2012, and this is the first time I've finally attempted a recipe. 

The end result was spectacular, of course.  But I have never put so much labor into what I thought was a simple dish!  

Substitutions: I bought a larger chicken (approximately 6 pounds) so that we would have leftovers.  Happy to report that I did not adjust the amounts of the remaining ingredients and it still turned out perfectly, as did the Chicken and Dumplings I made from the subsequent bone broth and leftover chicken.  I added some whole red potatoes to the roasting pan to go with the carrots and onions.  

After so many flips and turns, it was hard to keep track of which way was up, for the bird and for me...  Be careful when turning the chicken so that the delicious skin doesn't wind up stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan.  

Is it sinful if I thought the carrots were the most amazing part? 

Poulet Roti (Roast Chicken) 

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, 3-4 pounds
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
5 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature, divided
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon shallot or green onion, minced
1 cup chicken stock or broth

Preparation Instruction

Preheat oven to 425°F. Sprinkle inside of chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and smear in 1 tablespoon butter. Dry it thoroughly with paper towels, and rub the skin with 1 tablespoon butter. Place chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Strew carrot and onion around it, and set it on a middle rack of the preheated oven. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to use for basting.

Allow chicken to brown lightly for 5 minutes. Turn it on its left side, basting it with the butter and oil mixture, and allow it to brown for 5 minutes. Turn it on its right side, baste it, and allow to it to brown for 5 minutes. Reduce oven to 350°F. Leave chicken on its right side, and baste every 8 to 10 minutes, using the fat in the roasting pan when butter-and-oil mixture is empty. Halfway through estimated roasting time (when the right side of chicken is golden brown, about 40 minutes), sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt then turn it on its left side. Continue roasting and basting for another 20-30 minutes, until left side is golden brown. Then, sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and turn the chicken, breast side up. Continue basting and cook for another 10-20 minutes or until chicken has an internal temperature of 165°F. When done, cut and discard trussing strings, and allow chicken to rest on a hot platter for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan, and discard. Then, strain the cooked vegetables and pan juices through a chinois. In a small sauce pan, combine strained pan juices and minced shallot (or green onion), and cook over low flame for 1 minute. Add stock, and boil rapidly over high heat, scraping and discarding any white foam, until liquid reduces to 1/2 cup. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off flame, and just before serving, swirl in 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter into the pan sauce. Pour a spoonful of sauce over the chicken, then ladle the remaining sauce in a gravy boat for the table.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Have you ever been to the Grassland Foodland grocery store on Hillsboro Road?  In the front left corner is Miss Daisy’s Kitchen, a treasure trove of prepared comfort foods and delicious sweets.  When I was on maternity leave, a friend brought us some of Miss Daisy's Poppy Seed Chicken, and I've been hooked ever since.  As I was looking through my cookbooks this week, I came across this recipe and immediately wondered if it could be as good as Miss Daisy's.

The recipe comes from Homecoming: Special Foods, Special Memories compiled by the Baylor University Alumni Association.  I'm a Trinity girl myself, but my grandmother and great-grandfather graduated from Baylor, and their Christmas Lemon Pecan Cake recipe is featured on the back cover!  Of course, Mimi sent me a copy of the book for my collection, and after my latest perusal, I know I'll be back to try some more recipes.

While there were too many poppy seeds, Husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish and I'll happily make it again.  It's a step below Miss Daisy's, but that could be because (1) I'm not Miss Daisy and (2) I made a slightly healthier version.  My smaller recipe made about 5 servings, and it was delicious served over rice (the first night) and over noodles (the second night).     

Substitutions: Since chicken breasts come in a pack of three (which annoys me to no end... I feel like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride ranting about hot dog buns), I adjusted everything to match this amount of chicken and to lower the fat content a bit, and I baked the casserole in an 8" x 8" dish.  I used 1 can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup, 12 oz. light sour cream, 3 tablespoons poppy seeds, 1/3 cup sherry... and all the Ritz crackers and butter, because that's the best part!

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture... but has there ever been an appetizing picture of a casserole?

Poppy Seed Chicken

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (16 oz.) container sour cream
4 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup sherry wine 
1 sleeve buttery round crackers, crushed
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation Instructions
For best results, start the night before by combining the first 5 ingredients in a bowl, mixing until blended.  Allow to sit in refrigerator overnight.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and spread chicken mixture evenly in dish.  Sprinkle the crushed crackers evenly on top.  Drizzle the melted butter over the crackers.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and top is golden brown.   

Caramel Apple Cake

Any friend of mine knows I love food, especially dessert!  So, needless to say, I was super excited that I received Desserts from the Loveless Cafe as a gift.  I am a lifelong fan of Loveless, and now that we live nearby, it's a constant temptation!   

While I've never had anything at the cafe that I didn't like, I was a bit disappointed in this cake.  I think it had too much spice in it for my taste.  That didn't stop my colleagues from gobbling up the leftovers, though.  And as much as I adore chai tea, I'm surprised I felt this way.  Husband didn't care for the pecans in the cake, but I have to disagree -- the toasted pecans were my favorite part!  

Substitutions: I went the easy route and used caramel ice cream topping instead of making the Drunken Caramel Sauce.  After discovering that cardamom was more than $10 for a small jar, I searched the internet for substitutions and came up with a mix of equal parts cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg.  Maybe that's why the cake seemed over-spiced to me?  If I were to try again, I might have to spring for the cardamom.   

 
Loveless Cafe lists this recipe and others on their website.

Caramel Apple Cake

Ingredients
½ cup pecan pieces
2 eggs
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil or other neutral vegetable oil
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Drunken Caramel Sauce (recipe below)

Preparation Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 6- to 8-cup Bundt pan. Place the pecans in a small baking pan and toast them in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly colored and fragrant. Let cool. Mix the eggs, brown sugar, and oil to a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the pecans and apples and stir with a spatula to combine. Sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and baking soda over the mixture. Fold together until combined so that no streaks of flour remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and place the rack over a baking sheet. Using a fork, poke holes all around the sides and top of the cake. If the caramel sauce is not in a liquid state, heat it gently on the lowest setting in the microwave until it pours like honey. Drizzle the caramel slowly over the cake in an effort to cover the entire cake with a thin layer of glaze. If the caramel pools on the pan below, scoop it up and drizzle it over the cake again; the more you get on the cake, the better. Allow the caramel to set and the cake to cool completely before slicing.

Baking Tip: If you don’t want to make your own caramel sauce, you can buy it, but be sure it is a thick sauce, such as an ice cream topping.   Mexican cajeta or leche quemada works quite well too.

Drunken Caramel Sauce
Makes about 1 ¼ cups

Ingredients
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small cinnamon stick
1 inch of vanilla bean, split lengthwise in half
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
¼ cup bourbon, whiskey, or dark rum

Preparation Instructions 
In a small saucepan, combine the cream, butter, and cinnamon stick. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pan using the tip of a knife and toss in the pod. Set over low heat to warm the cream, melt the butter, and infuse the flavors, about 3 minutes.

In a separate deep saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring to melt the sugar. Using a moist brush, wash any sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Continue to boil without stirring until the sugar syrup begins to color. Once it turns golden, gently swirl the pan and watch it closely. As soon as the caramel turns an even amber shade, remove from the heat.

Carefully pour a few tablespoons of the warm cream into the caramel; the mixture will boil up furiously. Whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in the remaining cream. Continue to whisk until all the caramel is dissolved. Stir in the bourbon, remove the vanilla pod, and let the sauce cool to room temperature before serving.