Recipe 40: Pastrami Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions and Dill (Molly Baz’s Cook This Book)
Quite possibly the Platonic ideal of a roast chicken.
The true test of a good cook is the ability to make a simple dish well. A perfect loaf of bread, a perfect bowl of pasta, and of course a perfect roast chicken fall into this category. A perfect roast chicken is well seasoned with crispy skin and juicy, succulent meat. Roast chicken is the staple of family dinners the world over and just about everybody has a favorite recipe. In the spirit of playful riffs on dinner workhorses, Bon Appétit Test Kitchen alumni, Molly Baz includes two roast chicken recipes in her first cookbook, Cook This Book. I’ve been a Molly fan for a while, her breezy approach to cooking and emphasis on proper seasoning mirrors my own style. It also helps that every one of her recipes I’ve made from her Bon Appétit days has been extremely easy and very delicious. Cook This Book arrived at my door last week and I eagerly paged through it to figure out what to try first. As usual, my choices were largely defined by what I had in my fridge that needed to get used up. In this case, it was a big bunch of fresh dill . . . how convenient! This is a really new book, so I couldn’t find the recipe link anywhere, but I will use encourage people to purchase! Part of the premise is not just the great recipes, but teaching novices how to cook. Her writing style is encouraging and each recipe includes a QR code that links to a video tutorial in case a technique is new to the reader. I could definitely see the me from twenty years ago, just learning how to cook on my own, getting a lot from this book. And even now, there are still techniques I can improve or combinations that haven’t occurred to me. This is a really great book - so buy it and then do as Molly says and COOK it!
SKILL RATING: Easy Peasy
If you’re really intimidated by roasting a chicken, this might seem more medium effort, but I assure you, the recipe is written for beginners. It uses one cast iron skillet or roasting pan (bonus) and there isn’t any real specialized equipment involved unless you count the very necessary meat thermometer. This roast chicken in patted dry (as all roast chickens should be) and then rubbed down with a mixture of paprika, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, and pepper then placed on top on a bed of sliced onions and two garlic heads. Roasted at 400 for about an hour, the bird rests and the garlic and onion slices are mixed together with some fresh dill. That’s it! You’ll be enjoying one of the best roast chickens of your life in about 90 minutes.
TASTE RATING: 5/5
Yes. I will make this again. I would make it again tonight if I didn’t have half a chicken left over to still eat! As the chicken roasts, the drippings turn the garlic and onions into a tender-crisp schmaltzy flavor bomb. While the meat rested, I carefully pulled the roasted garlic cloves from the papery shell and mixed them in with the onions. I spread some on them onto a piece of toasted sourdough (a great option) and drizzled some on them and their juices on the sliced meat. Overall, absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to try the next Molly recipe!
Read my “Cook With Me This Year” post for background on my little kitchen project.