Ingredients
Small to medium whole chicken
Butter or duck fat (half a cup is good), softened
Aromatics and herbs. Use what you like, and use a heavy hand (options below)
1/2 cup or more chicken stock
1/4-1/2 cup white wine (not sweet)
Instructions
Get a small to medium whole chicken. Remove the back. Give the organ-y bits to the dogs for a treat. If you have time, salt the chicken under the skin- 1 tsp. per pound- 8-18 hours before cooking, and let rest uncovered in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you’re using a stovetop to oven pan, let it heat up in the preheating oven.
Mix herbs and seasoning with the fat, and shove the fat under the chicken skin all over the skin-side of the bird. If you didn’t presalt the bird, salt and pepper it now. If you did presalt, just add pepper.
Pull the pan out and PUT SOMETHING ON THE HANDLE TO REMIND YOU IT’S HOT. Be smarter than me. Put on a burner, and turn to medium-high or high, depending on your stovetop. Add roughly 1 teaspoon of oil (not extra-virgin. Use something with a high smoke-point.)
Put the chicken skin-side down in the pan. Let it get nice and brown for at least 5 minutes. Once it’s brown, turn it over (this will not be smooth and you will need some expletives handy as the legs will flop around and it can get spatter-y). Once flipped, make sure the legs are positioned knock-kneed, with the skin side up. If you’re adding garlic cloves, onion wedges, or some little potatoes, do it now. The chicken can sit on top of them.
Add chicken stock and white wine. CAREFULLY put the pan in the oven. Let cook for 40-50 minutes depending on the size of the bird. (If you’re a probe person, 165 is good.)
Once cooked, put the bird on a cutting board to rest. Remove potatoes or other non-garlic vegetables. The pan will be full of wonderful juices. Over a medium burner, cook down the pan juices, smashing garlic to thicken sauce. Once it’s a consistency you like, transfer to bowl or gravy dish.
Carve bird. (We like breasts off the bone and sliced, but the leg quarters served whole.) Serve the sauce separately, because some people don’t like to mess up the crispy skin so prefer their sauce underneath the meat.
Flavor profile options
Garlic (at least half a head of whole cloves) This goes in every combination.
lemon, rosemary
shallots, thyme, marjoram
herbs de provence
Penzey’s Sunny Paris. This stuff isn’t cheap, but it’ll change your life.
Oregano, lemon
This recipe will take a LOT of flavors. Use a heavy hand- no half-teaspoons here.
I use a carbon steel pan, but cast iron will work just as well.
The author trying to score some Twitter likes during the pandemic.
Why Carnae?
Carnal. Carnivore. Carnival. Carney.
In the context of Lent (and therefore sin), why are cows meat, but fish are not? It’s not a land/water thing. It’s because according to the Church, cows reproduce via sinful (if the cows are good at it) cow-on-cow sex, but fish just wander around and hope for babies. Cows, and all the other animals that enjoy the sexytime, are carnal. So even eating the flesh of something that has had some fun is a sin, but putting peas in tuna casserole is fine by God.
But I am an animal, and the corporal is not just inseparable, it’s intrinsic. And it’s wonderful! I have had astounding exchanges about ideas with my friends that have brought me joy and learning and a better brain, but wild mushroom ravioli in a cream sauce will make my eyes close and words am not conscious of choosing will pour out of my mouth. And having someone beside me to share it with makes it much better, because we both got to have the experience. That connection is why.