Roasted Chicken

What could be more wholesome and down-home than a roasted chicken?  And although somewhat time intensive, it's a fairly easy process.  It just takes a little patience.  The result will be a juicy succulent chicken that's great for an after work meal or a special Sunday night dinner.  :o)

Ingredients:
1 whole roasting chicken (5-6 pounds)
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch rosemary
1/2 stick (4T) butter, softened (can sub margarine)
3 lemons, halved
2 heads garlic, halved crosswise
3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make butter rub:  Strip approximately 1T each of thyme and rosemary off thick stalks and finely chop.  Mix herbs with softened butter in bowl and set aside.

Prep:  Remove chicken innards (can discard or pan fry separately if you're into organ meats).  Rinse chicken inside and out.  Remove any pin feathers and pat chicken dry.  Place the carrots, onion, celery, and one head of garlic in a large roasting pan.  Drizzle EVOO and juice of one half lemon over vegetables and toss to coat.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables.  Gently separate the skin from the breast (but don't remove it) by sliding your fingers between the skin and breast and making a pocket.  Using your hands, spread some of the butter rub under the skin of the chicken.  For crispy skin, pat the outside of the chicken dry once more and then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  For softer golden skin, rub some of the butter mixture all over the outside of the chicken and then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Stuff one whole lemon, 1 head of garlic and a few springs of thyme and rosemary into the cavity of the chicken.  Tie legs together with kitchen twine, and tuck wings over themselves.

Cook:  Roast the chicken for one hour to an hour and a half or until a meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the thigh registers 165 degrees (be careful to avoid the bone).  Slice and serve!

Optional Extras:  Serve your roasted chicken with some roasted potatoes and asparagus.  Clean veg and chop potatoes.  Place on a foil-lined sheet pan, and either drizzle all with EVOO or toss with any remaining herb butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Cook veg with the chicken for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.

Gravy, anyone?  Remove approximately two tablespoons of the chicken juices/fat from the roasting pan and place in a medium sauce pan.  Warm over medium heat and then sprinkle in approximately two tablespoons of flour.  Whisk continuously for three minutes to eliminate the flour taste.  Stir in 1 cup of white wine, and 1/2 cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  If overly thick, add more chicken stock or wine a splash at a time.

NIOSA

A Night In Old San Antonio (NIOSA).  My favorite part of Fiesta every year.  Fiesta is a 120-year tradition in San Antonio full of parades, festivals and most of all, FOOD!!  I believe it to be one of the most perfect compilations of fair food I've ever experienced.  I started going to NIOSA about ten years ago, and being someone who loves tradition, there are specific food items that I love and must eat without fail.  Thankfully the layout of NIOSA changes little from year to year, so finding my tasty vittles is easy.  Strategic in fact.  :o)
http://www.niosa.org/default2.htm


Bean Gorditas:  Refried beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole stuffed inside a thick, succulent, masa pocket.  Imagine the best soft taco on a corn tortilla you've ever eaten.  Now double that.  The warm thick corn pocket is the perfect vehicle for creamy refried beans and requisite Tex-Mex vegetable mix of lettuce, tomatoes and cheese.  The guacamole on top is just another layer of delicious avocado goo to keep the whole thing together.

White Wine Margaritas:  These fruity drinks pack almost no discernable alcoholic punch, but to me they are the flawless mix of frozen sweet and sour and ideal in taking the edge off that blistering Texas sun.  The added lime salt around the rim gives the drink an extra sour punch that hits me in the back of the jaw and makes my mouth pucker.  I love that!

Anticuchos:  Spicy, marinated, steak shish-ka-bob.  But not just ANY spicy, marinated, steak shish-ka-bob.  Seasoned with lots of garlic and red pepper flake these shish-ka-bobs are grilled over an open flame, giving the meat a delicious smokiness.  When you order an anticucho, they are literally given to you straight off the grill, still sizzling.  A combination of marinade and melted fat drips down the skewer and onto your hands (a little snack for later), but the burn is minimal and secondary to the rush of flavor that hits your tongue as you bite into the delicious cubes o' cow.  This meal's a messy one, but   this is the kind of food that makes killing trees to make napkins, feel so right.

(Picture fail.  I got overzealous and dove into the meat before remembering to take a picture.  The only reason I got pictures of all the other foods is because Monique reminded me.  By far the biggest obstacle for this new food blogger!)


Fried Green Tomatoes:  The first time I ate fried green tomatoes was at the after school program I attended in New York City.  A delightful man, named James (the director, I believe, but maybe not), made them one afternoon and shared them with the kids.  His were corn meal battered and fried, and they were crispy and juicy and made such an impression on me.  I begged my mom for years to try and make some.  I believe after moving to Texas she finally did (thanks Mom!).  The fried green tomatoes at NIOSA however, are tempura battered, making them light and fluffy and super crunchy.  The insides are piping hot and dripping with juicy tomato goodness!  I top mine with ranch dressing to cool off the heat (and just 'cause I like it!).

Bread Pudding:  This is actually a new one for me this year.  For the first time I ventured into an area of NIOSA that I had never encountered before: Froggy Bottom.  Bread pudding ranks high amongst my favorite desserts, but I'm fairly specific about how I like it.  Many times, bread pudding is dry and even the most delicious bourbon sauce can't save it.  This bread pudding was perfectly sticky and moist and the sauce had an inordinate amount of nutmeg in it that I found to be unfamiliar and strange but most delightful and flavorful.

Pizza:  I don't know about you, but my favorite day in grade school was Friday.  Not only because it was the last school day before the weekend, but also because it was Pizza Friday!  That rectangular, thin block of dough topped with canned tomato sauce and rubbery mozzarella.  Good?  Not really.  And yet, strangely delicious and extremely nostalgic!!  The picture you see below is said school cafeteria pizza, in the flesh.  Once a year, I just HAVE to have it.  This year, the pizza booth was shifted slightly and I almost had a melt-down when I thought my food list would not be complete.  Thankfully, a last minute mission to find funnel cake for Monique (a success), resulted in me spotting the pizza booth in its new location and all being right with the world again.

Cotton Candy:  What could be more reminiscent of childhood than cotton candy?  A light, fluffy, gritty cloud of spun sugar that melts in your mouth and coats your fingers with stickiness at just the slightest hint of moisture.  Cotton candy is a splurge I make at every fair, rodeo and carnival.  It makes me happy.  Yes, it's too sweet.  Yes, it's not good for me.  No, I don't care.  It's FUN FOOD!  :o)

There are MANY other foods to be had at NIOSA.  Unfortunately, I am but one woman with one stomach (damn it), and for this former San Antonian at least, I only have one night.  Got some NIOSA favorites you'd like to share?  Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at noellesnoms@gmail.com.

Next Up:  Roasted chicken.  (I cook!  I swear!)

The Food That Memories Are Made Of

When I was a child, approximately 6 years old, living in Manhattan, I distinctly remember a churro that changed my life.  Purchased from a street vendor (who also sold those big, soft, chewy pretzels) this churro was the perfect mix of warm, crunchy outside and doughy inside.  It was sugar-cinnamoned within an inch of its life AND it had a cream cheese filling!  Since leaving New York in 1983 I have yet to find its equal.

At rock climbing this past Tuesday, after politely declining dinner at Plucker's because I'd reached my caloric ceiling for the day, my friend Mike told me about his favorite bakery in Austin: Chuy's Panederia, a fantastic Mexican pastry/sandwich shop just off of 183 and Ohlen.  I wondered aloud if they had churros.  Mike said, "They do.  Although... they have something in them."  That got my attention.  "Are they cream filled?" I asked.  "Yeah, that's it."  A quick call to check their hours and I was on my way (what calorie ceiling?).

I walked into Chuy's Panederia and noticed the churros right away.  They glowed like a golden beacon under their heat lamp from the back of the store.  $.75 later, and that churro was mine!  The smell was absolutely heavenly.  Such a sweet mix of dough, sugar and caramel.  Like a doughnut on crack.  The taste was overly indulgent.  Warm, not too greasy, plenty of cinnamon and sugar (there has to be enough to get equal parts in your mouth and down your shirt/in your lap) and super crunchy.  And the filling?  The filling was slightly different than what I remember, but it was ooey, gooey and had a fantastic caramel flavor.  Not quite the churro of my childhood, but the closest I've had in 28 (or so) years.

Know of another good place I can pick up a cream filled churro (other than New York)?  If so, I'd love to know.  I'm still on a mission, but at least I'm one step closer!