SUNDAY

{Christian Delouvrier’s} Roast Chicken with Herbed French Fries  |  Steamed Broccoli

 

I love cooking magazines.  I have subscribed to oh, so many over the years and I always looked forward to their appearance in my mailbox each month.  It would take all of my will power to not flip through the pages on my way up the driveway.  I would set the new edition on my desk where it would wait for me until I could give it an appropriate viewing…usually after the children had gone to bed, when I could pour myself a cup of tea, sit in my favorite chair and savor each article & photograph {making mental notes of the recipes I wanted to try}.  Now, I am able to enjoy some of my favorites delivered to my iPad…

The ritual remains the same.  I still wait for a quiet moment or two when I can enjoy my new treasure which was silently delivered.

Tonight’s dinner recipe came from the newest {February 1, 2013} edition of Saveur Magazine.  Chicken is a staple in our home so I am always on the lookout for new chicken recipes.  This recipe for roast chicken is by chef Christian Delouvrier of Manhattan’s La Mangeoire restaurant & it caught my eye because of it’s utter simplicity.

Preheat oven to 475°.  Start with 1 stick {8 tablespoons} of butter & melt in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup of soy sauce…set aside:

Next, prepare the chicken.  Rinse the chicken, inside and out, with lukewarm water and pat dry.  Season all over with sea salt & freshly ground pepper.  Crush 4 cloves of garlic and tie one bunch of thyme and insert the garlic and thyme into the chicken cavity.  Tie the legs together with kitchen string so as to protect the breast meat during cooking:

 Then generously coat with some of the butter soy mixture:

 

Roast chicken in the oven for approximately 1 hour or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165° , basting twice {after 20 mins & 40 mins} with the remaining soy butter mixture:

First Basting…

Second Basting…

The final bird:

I have to admit that I cheated on the french fries.  I used Alexia frozen fries & baked according to package directions {I put the fries into the oven with the chicken at the 40 mins basting}…they finished at the same time as the chicken.  When the fries were finished, I removed them from the baking sheet to a mixing bowl and added minced garlic and thyme {3 cloves of garlic and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves}, a drizzle of white truffle oil and  2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese {these last two ingredients were my adaptations}:

I steamed the broccoli while the chicken rested…and the finished plate:

This dinner was so easy and would make a great weeknight dinner.  The simple soy-butter glaze for the chicken added a wonderful smooth, savory flavor to the meat and made for wonderful pan juices for drizzling over the finished chicken slices.  The children LOVED having french fries with Sunday dinner!

The only thing missing from this wonderful Sunday dinner was Michael…he is currently traveling in Japan and sent us this “Good Morning” photo from his hotel window in Tokyo.

 

He is 17 hours ahead of us so it was already Monday morning for him.  Hope you are having a great day sweetie & we can’t wait to have you home!!!