Unplanned Cooking

Last night, eleven ladies, including Meg from Sprout and Katherine from Tailor Taste, joined me for our inaugural cooking club meal.  As host, I was responsible for the main entree.  I chose to roast a chicken, which I saw as a stepping stone to making a turkey on Thanksgiving (here’s my reasoning:  both are birds, and both require you to reach inside their cavity).

To my surprise, the chicken was a breeze to roast, and it turned out wonderful.  The skin was crispy and salty, while the meat was tender and fell easily from the bone.

But I think I have to work on presentation.  My friend Meg gets presentation.  She brought Fennel and Turnip Crudites.  With edible flowers.  That she grows in her backyard.

But obviously I don’t get the art of visual appeal.  ’Cause what does this chicken look like to you?

A child curled up in a crib?  A bottom facing up at you requesting to be wiped?  A wee little pig?  Road kill?

I didn’t try to make it have eyes.  It’s just where the cranberries landed.

But just in case it wetted your appetite, here is the recipe.

Roast Chicken with Cranberry-Rosemary Paste, adapted from Bon Appetit:

• 1 teaspoon rosemary leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 5- to 6-pound whole chicken

First, I rinsed the chicken and patted it dry.

Then I combined all of the ingredients, except for the chicken, in a blender.  I rubbed the mixture on the chicken.

I placed one cup of water in our roasting pan, and then set the chicken on the tray.  I roasted it for 1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees, until its skin browned and the thickest part of its thigh was 170 F according to my thermometer.

Despite its bottoms up presentation, the ladies loved it.  Maybe it’s because of all the wine we poured.