9/8/13

Video Attempt: Rosemary Chicken, Caesar Salad, and Helping Terry Gross

I know this video focuses mostly on the chicken (and helping out Terry Gross), but it's worth noting that this is a delicious take on Caesar salad that doesn't call for a raw or coddled egg. G'head and try it!

Caesar Salad slightly adapted from Salad for Dinner
Serves 4
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 tablespoons olive oil + more for croutons
½ teaspoon kosher salt + more for croutons
black pepper
grated Parmesan
2 heads romaine hearts, washed and chopped (TIP: If you were hoping to serve 6, just throw in an extra head of romaine as I had leftover dressing with using the 2 heads.)
½ a baguette (day old is great)

For the dressing:In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce until blended. Gradually add the 6 tablespoons of olive oil until emulsified. Whisk in the ½ teaspoon salt and some cracked black pepper. Set aside in the refrigerator until you’re ready to toss the salad.

For the croutons:
 
Preheat the oven to 375F.

Cut the bread into bite sized squares. Toss these pieces onto a baking sheet. (A quarter baking sheet works well.) Drizzle the pieces with olive oil, just enough so that each square gets at least one stripe of oil. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands or a utensil, stir the bread around on the pan so that each piece becomes lightly coated. Pop into the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until lightly browned. (If you remember, halfway through cooking time, toss them around in the pan to give the other sides of the bread some face time with the pan.)

Fill a large bowl with the chopped romaine. Top with room-temp croutons. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of grated Parmesan. And just before you’re ready to serve, toss with the dressing.

Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Potatoes*
Serves 2

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 skin-on boneless chicken breasts (They usually sell these as bone-in, skin-on breasts, but again, I just ask the butcher to cut out the bone.)
1 pound (or a little more) of fingerling potatoes, scrubbed, patted dry, and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
kosher salt
pepper

* It dawned on me after I made this for the video, that this isn’t exactly a perfect recipe for entertaining, in that it typically takes the potatoes about 15 more minutes in the oven after the chicken is done. When it’s just me and Matt, this is fine as I can deal with chicken that is no longer piping hot (Crispy potatoes, in my opinion, are always worth the wait.), but if dinner guests were involved, I might roast the potatoes separately and instead use all of those delicious pan juices for another purpose, like say, sautéing some mushrooms, which would only take 2 to 3 minutes in the hot skillet.) OK, on to the recipe:

Preheat oven to 425F.

Season both sides of the chicken breasts well with salt, pepper, and the chopped rosemary, pressing the latter into the skin. In your largest oven-safe sauté pan, heat butter and one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until hot. Place the chicken breasts skin side down in the skillet (if the pan is hot enough, it should make a sizzling sound) and leave it there for 6 to 7 minutes or until the skin is nice and golden brown. Flip the breasts to their other sides and add the potatoes to the pan, making sure to really toss them around so each potato gets coated with the oil/butter/chicken fat combo. Give the potatoes a few pinches of salt as well. Continue to cook the chicken and potatoes for a couple of minutes on the stovetop.

Using oven mitts, transfer the whole pan to the pre-heated oven. Now, the chicken breasts I got this last time were quite large. Using oven mitts(!), I pulled the pan out of the oven and checked them after about 6-7 minutes, but they were still pinkish. So back in they went for at least another 4 minutes. The good news about this way of cooking your skin-on chicken breasts? It’s pretty hard to overcook them. When I pulled the pan out (with oven mitts!) the second time, they were done. I put them on a plate, very loosely covered them with foil, tossed the potatoes around in the pan and put them back in the oven for what ended up being about 15-20 more minutes until they were browned and crisped. Aaaand, you're done.

Note: While serving yourself your delicious potatoes, you might want to turn the scalding hot handle of the pan so that it’s facing as far away from you as possible as I managed to burn my forearm on it whilst plating. (If you notice in the video, that’s why we didn’t get a shot of me raving over how delicious everything is—because I was too busy whimpering and icing my arm.) But like I always say: anything for you, Terry!

23 comments:

  1. I love this meal. Hope Terry does too. XOXO

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  2. Hahahaha. I should send this to my boyfriend's dad. He has similar chicken problems. :(

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  3. I just watched this over breakfast and i must say...it made my MORNING BECOME ECLECTIC.



    Zing.

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    1. Awwww man, total zing!! I'll need you on the sidelines for our next pun-heavy shoot!!

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  4. Your videos always make my day :-))

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  5. I love the heavy public radio references. I listened to that interview and thought the same thing! "You're Terry Gross, you don't need to microwave your chicken."

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  6. I love that I found out about this post when PBS tweeted about it. The chicken looks divine and chicken fat potatoes? YES!

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  7. HAHAHAHAAAAAA, classic bon appetempt!! i love this! let us know when you hear from Terry! xoxoxo

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  8. chicken, potatoes, and caesar salad, flavored with personality and expertise...
    hope Terry listened in.
    ty

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  9. You are hilarious. AND this video is a huge service to chicken microwavers everywhere.

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  10. I made the exact same face (in my head) while driving and listening to Terry say that about her chicken. Great intervention!

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  11. Burns are so painful, sorry.

    What are the little purple things?

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    1. Hi Shelley! The good news is that my burn is almost completely healed! As for the purple things, they're potatoes! Trader Joe's and Whole Foods both sell them bunched in with the other, more regular-looking fingerling potatoes. :)

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  12. I'm making this tonight! Thank you! And thank you for inspiring this attempt, Terry! I'm really looking forward to a BonAppetempt Fresh Air interview someday!

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  13. Are you always stoned? Also, I love your heath dishes!

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    1. Hi Anonymous! Thanks for noticing my pretty dishes. To answer your question: nope! In fact, never. Plus, in this video, I'm 22 weeks pregnant, so not even a beer on hand. :)

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  14. simple, easy to do, especially you have video for sharing

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  15. I heard that interview, too, and found it SO SAD. Terry Gross eating . . . um, gross food. I would be happy to cook her dinner. Your option looks delightful, although me, I'm going to try the kim chee rice.

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  16. I get intimidated to cook but you make it look sooooo easy! I'm going to attempt to do the chicken and potatoes tonight ( I'm not sure if I am brave enough to chop anchovies ). I wonder if this dish would be okay for guests if the chicken have the bone in it... doesn't it take longer to cook if it's bone-in? If so, then I wonder if the chicken and potatoes can be done at the same time. -AEV

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    1. Sorry I'm late in responding! But yes, I think trying it with the bone-in chicken could result in a better -timed dish... did you end up making it?? If not, I'll have to give it a shot next time!

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    2. I did make it ANNNNDDD I'm making it again tomorrow. I did exactly what you said and asked the butcher to de-bone the chicken (which for some reason I just wouldn't have thought to ask) and somehow the chicken and potatoes were done at the same time.. I did cut the potatoes into smaller portions in hopes to get it cooked at the same time. I always have beginners luck so I hope that tomorrow's (bon)attempt is also a success. :) AEV

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  17. I just watched this again because I'm going to make this tonight. What brand/size is that saute pan? It looks like a great size and I need something like that.

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