Best Roasted Chicken Ever

I went spinning for the first time in 4 years a couple days ago. And almost died! But it was so worth it. I walked out at least 3 pounds lighter and was ready for a gluttonous weekend. I was dizzy and starving so I decided to roast a whole chicken for myself and scarf it down. I dropped by the closest whole foods, which is still far, picked up a 3lb chicken and other herbs and tested out my new convection oven. The oven did an okay job. I did an amazing job though. I've roasted poultry before, but this time the color was so perfect, the skin was perfectly crisp and the meat was perfectly cooked and just sooooooo juicy.

Another picture with a juicy morsel of tender breast meat

Best Roast Chicken Ever
Roasted chicken is always a crowd pleaser. But only when it's good. It's just rude to serve bad food. Chicken is one of the easiest things to make, but it's hard to make well. Also because it lacks so much flavor when cooked wrong. But this recipe should be fail proof. The meat was so moist and it was good both hot and cold.

FOR 4

INGREDIENTS:
3lb organic chicken
2 sprigs of rosemary
20 cloves of garlic
1/2 lemon
10 fingerling potatoes
Salt, pepper, butter, oil

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 400 (200 celcius) degrees. Clean, peel and parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes in salted water. While the potatoes cook, clean the chicken, stuff the cavity with the rosemary, lemon and half the garlic. Tie the chicken with some kitchen string and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drain the potatoes and put it in the baking pan with the remaining garlic. Put the chicken on top of the potatoes and garlic. rub a little bit of butter and oil and pop it in the oven for exactly 1 hour. After about 40 minutes if the chicken gets too dark, cover it with foil and continue cooking.

What do I eat when in Paris?

When I moved to Paris early last year, I read Mark Bittman's NYtimes articles on Steak Frites. He lists 5 different places and I've tried all but 1. One of the venues on the list is Relais de l'Entrocote. I went last year for the first time and the fries were amazing! BUT, they wouldn't give me any ketchup. Dam frog's. The steak was also pretty great. But it comes swimming in this green buttery sauce, which Mark Bittman describes as a tarragon herb butter sauce. Not completely true. It is and herby chicken liver sauce. You can't taste much of the liver, but there's an odd texture and color to it. I didn't like it that first time but I was able to cleanse my palate after with some profiteroles, so that was fine. I was in Paris last week and revisited Relais de l'entrocote. This time, I like the sauce even less. I liked it so little, it actually upset my stomach and I was sick all night. Being sick was awful and so painful, but the best diet EVER! I was back to my svelte body from a decade ago! I couldn't eat anything all next day and by evening time, I was starving. So what do I eat after being sick? A rare bacon cheeseburger from Hotel Amour. But I asked for a salad instead of the fries. And the salad was so delish! The next day, I tried making the salad and was totally successful!
Hotel Amour Salad

INGREDIENTS:
Salad greens (I used baby bibb lettuce type greens)
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 large bouquet of flat leaf parsley
10 basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Using a hand mixer or a food processor, puree all ingredients except the salad greens. Season to taste and toss with red onions and lettuce. Add roughly cut tomatoes if you want. Serve immediately.

I'm never just satisfied with just a salad for dinner. Cause I be a hog. So I also made a fantastic herb, mustard potato salad!
Jamie's Herby Mustard Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium potatoes
1/2 shallot, chopped fine
4 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup EVOO
Pepper

PREPARATION:
Peel the potatoes and boil until soft. While the potatoes cook prepare the herb mustard sauce. In a big bowl, mix all ingredients. When the potatoes are ready, cut them into thick round slices and mix with the mustard sauce. Serve immediately.

Korean Dinner

There are 4 places you can find good Korean food. Korea, obviously. LA LA Land, obviously, and Flushing. But there is only one place in the world where you can find amazing Korean food that's almost orgasmic. In my house, obviously. Because I'm the best cook ever and I have very good taste in good food. Before I left Paris, I invited some friends over and made some of my favorite dishes because I felt like fishing for compliments. I made some japchae, bibimbop and a spicy pork dish. I made a bunch of stuff, but once again was busy eating and forgot to take pictures of some of them.

Spicy Pork
This was just enough spicy to get some perspiration going and just so nicely caramelized because of the ground pear I added to the sauce. It got nice and sticky like a spicy bbq marinade. And it was just so very slightly sugary to offset the heat. I tried using two different cuts of pork. Shoulder cut and belly. The belly is by far superior. Cause as we all may not know, fat makes food taste exponentially better. But the shoulder cut wasn't so bad cause it's leaner and less greasy. But definitely not as much flavor. The belly has a better texture in the mouth as well with the marriage of the chewy meat and the silky fat with the caramelized outside.

Close up. I like close ups.

 

Bibimbop
I like these when its in the hot stone bowl. But since in Paris, my stove was induction, there was no way I was gona get that fancy. I also like bibimbop with a fried egg. But I was slaving all day and didn't feel like frying 6 eggs last minute. Usually, people just add some gochujang (red pepper paste) and sesame oil. But I like to make my own red pepper paste sauce with a mixture of some of my very own secret ingredients. With my secret sauce, the bibimbop is just one of the most fantastic things you'll have ever experienced.

I'll add some more of my Korean creations in the future. So check back. I haven't listed ingredients and measurements because Korean food is mostly made by guesstimation. And also because if I reveal all my cooking secrets, I won't be very special. But if you really must know my secrets, leave a comment or send me an email!