My New Cooking Magazine

Ever since I graduated from college I have been receiving Cooking Light magazine. I still love it as much as when I first started receiving it and even exposed my slight obsession with it earlier this year here. The over a year ago I started reading Fine Cooking whenever my Mother-In-Law had one lying around Mentone or the beach. I really liked it and for Christmas of 2006 Cash gave me a subscription to it. I have now been receiving it for over a year now and think it is a fabulous magazine with great information and recipes. Well, that thoughtful little pup outdid himself this past Christmas and added to my cooking magazine collection by giving me a subscription to… drum roll please… Cooks' Illustrated! I was super excited the other week when my first issue arrived and then over the top excited when Russ showed me the Cooks' Illustrated podcasts the other night. With three cooking magazine subscriptions and all my cookbooks I have a feeling I’ll be hanging out in the kitchen a lot this year in order to try as many recipes as possible. I decided to go ahead and get a jump start tonight by trying two of the recipes out of my new Cooks' Illustrated!

There are several recipes in this issue of CI that have lengthy cooking times, so since it was Sunday and I could start it earlier than on a weeknight I had Russ pick one of these to try. He chose the French Chicken in a Pot. This is really a simple recipe and most of the cook time is inactive while the chicken cooks in the oven for well over an hour. To prepare the chicken you start by patting the chicken to get it dry and seasoning it. Then you heat the oil in the Dutch oven and add the chicken breast side down. You toss all the vegetables and herbs in around the chicken. Once it has browned on the one side then you flip it over to the other to brown it. Once both sides have browned you put the pot in the oven on the lowest rack and cook it for 80 to 110 minutes at 250. We checked the temperature of our chicken at 90 minutes and it was done in fact it could have cooked several minutes less. Once it is cooked we removed it from the pot and let it rest on a plate. You then drain the sauce into a bowl to eliminate the chunks of vegetables and the herbs. Then put the liquid back in the Dutch oven, add a little lemon juice, and let it reduce.

I decided to try the recipe for Roasted Broccoli as a side for the chicken tonight. I love roasted vegetables, but have never had roasted broccoli before. To roast the broccoli you heat the oven to 500 degrees and put the baking sheet in to get it hot. Then cut the broccoli crowns into thirds or quarters (depending on the size) and peel the outer layer of skin off of them. Toss the broccoli with the oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Then put the broccoli on the hot baking sheet cut side down and roast for 9 to 11 minutes.

The chicken made the entire house smell wonderful while it was baking. It was really juicy and falling off the bone when we pulled it out of the oven. The flavor was very good, but not any more special than the other roasted chickens or beer can chickens we have done. All the whole chickens we have done have ended up with a tasty savory flavor, but all fairly similar. The meat was really moist, but we both felt like it could have been even more moist if I had baked it breast side down (apparently I need an anatomy lesson as I thought I had put it breast side down…) and if we had used the remote thermometer from the start to monitor the temperature because it could have cooked for less time. All in all it was delicious, moist, savory chicken! As for the broccoli, roasting it is my new favorite way to eat it. It was fantastic and the best broccoli I have ever eaten! We both ate every bite of broccoli on our plates. Roasting it gave it a great nutty yet sweet flavor and a light crispy texture to the flowers. This was so easy to do and was just delicious. I highly recommend you give roasting broccoli a try. Cooks' Illustrated gave a couple of other variations on roasting broccoli, with this being the classic / simple one, that look yummy too… so we may be having a lot of broccoli in the near future. Russ rates the chicken an 8 and the broccoli a 9.

French Chicken in a Pot, Cook’s Illustrated Jan / Feb 2008
Serves 4

1 whole roasting chicken (4 and ½ to 5 pounds), giblets removed and discarded, wings tucked under back
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped medium (about ½ cup)
1 small celery stalk, chopped medium (about ¼ cup)
6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
1 bay leaf
1 medium sprig of rosemary (optional) – I used it
½ to 1 teaspoon juice from 1 lemon

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Pat chicken dray with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking. Add chicken breast-side down; scatter onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary (if using) around chicken. Cook until breast is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon inserted into cavity of bird, flip chicken breast-side up and cook until chicken and vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove Dutch oven from heat; place large sheet of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid. Transfer pot to oven and cook until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of breast and 175 degrees in thickest part of thigh, 80 to 110 minutes.

Transfer chicken to carving board, tent with foil, and rest 20 minutes. Meanwhile, strain chicken juices from pot through fine mesh strainer into fat separator, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids (you should have about ¾ cup juices). Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into saucepan and set over low heat. Carve chicken, adding any accumulated juices to saucepan. Stir lemon juice into jus to taste. Serve chicken passing jus at table.

Roasted Broccoli, Cook’s Illustrated Jan / Feb 2008
Serves 4

Trim away the outer peel from the broccoli stalk, otherwise it will turn tough when cooked.

1 large head broccoli (about 1 and ¾ pounds)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
Lemon wedges for serving

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place large rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli at juncture of florets and stems; remove outer peel from stalk. Cut stalk into 2 to 3 inch lengths and each length into ½ inch thick pieces. Cut crowns into 4 wedges if 3 – 4 inches in diameter or 6 wedges if 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Place broccoli in a large bowl; drizzle with oil and toss well until evenly coated. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

Working quickly, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Carefully transfer broccoli to baking sheet and spread into even layer, placing flat sides down. Return baking sheet to oven and roast until stalks are well browned and tender and florets are slightly browned, 9 to 11 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately with lemon wedges.