An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery by Chris-Rachael Oseland Page B
Authors: Chris-Rachael Oseland
Tags: Cookbook
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Some rainy Sunday when you have more time than money, it’s well worth indulging in one of these classic dishes. While your home fills up with the tasty aromas of an earlier time, you can indulgently curl up with a good book that starts in a hole in the ground.
Sunday Roast Chicken
A single roast chicken could feed a small family for days. On Sunday night, the parents might have a thigh each while the kids got a drumstick. The next day, everyone would have slices of cold chicken breast with plenty of pickles, mustard, and a chunk of bread. Once all the meat was gone, the rest of the carcass would go into a pot to be turned into broth for soup.
1 whole roasting chicken
½ c / 115 g room temperature butter
5 tbsp fresh garden herbs, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp coarse salt
1 whole head of garlic
2 large sprigs of rosemary
2 ¼ lbs / 1 kg carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch / 5 cm chunks
2 ¼ lbs / 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch / 5 cm chunks
Preheat your oven to 475F/245C.
While your oven heats up, mince five tbsps of your favorite fresh garden herbs. If you’re not sure what to use, try 2 tbsp rosemary and 1 each of basil, thyme, and marjoram. Don’t let that limit you, though. Use whatever grows in your corner of the Shire. If herbs are out of season, you can also substitute 2 ½ tbsp of any pre-mixed herb blend.
Mix the minced herbs with the butter, minced garlic, and coarse salt.
Once you’ve achieved a nice, chunky herb butter, set it aside. Now peel your carrots and potatoes. You can also add other root vegetables common to the Shire such as turnips or rutabaga (also known as swede). Just make sure they’re peeled and cut into 2 inch /5 cm chunks so all the vegetables will cook evenly.
Spread an even layer of peeled, cubed vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Now it’s time to deal with the bird itself.
Thoroughly rinse the interior and exterior of your chicken in cold water. Remove any gizzards or other internal organs. Use paper towels to pat it dry. A dry chicken bathed in butter will produce a nice, crispy skin. A wet chicken, on the other hand, will end up with limp, soggy skin. Do yourself a favor and dry it up.
Cut your whole head of garlic in half horizontally. Rub it all over the interior of the bird. This not only adds flavor, but also has a mild antiseptic effect. This combination of flavor and sanitation is why people commonly rub cut lemons on the interior of a chicken then leave the citrus in place while it cooks. However, since citrus would’ve been extremely expensive in the sort of rural English village that inspired the Shire, they would’ve saved lemons for recipes where they played a starring role. (If you’re not a stickler for period accuracy, feel free to cut a lemon in half, spike it with a couple of cloves, and rub that around the interior as well.)
Gently bruise your rosemary sprigs and stuff them in the cavity along with the two halves of the garlic. Tie the legs together to keep the stuffing in place.
Use your fingers to loosen the skin. Gently slide a tbsp of herb butter under as much skin as possible. Rub another two tbsps of herb butter over the entire bird. Try to coat it as thoroughly as possible. Dot the vegetables with the remaining butter.
Snuggle the bird into its vegetable nest. Roast it at 475F / 245C for 25 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to carefully turn the vegetables surrounding the bird. You want to make sure all of them get a little bit of butter and/or drippings. Return the bird to the oven and continue roasting at 400F / 205C for another 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer plunged into the thickest part of the thigh registers 160F / 162C internal temperature.
Check on the bird around the 30 minute mark. If the skin is getting too crispy, tent some aluminum foil on top to keep it from burning.
When you pull your chicken out of the oven, let it rest
Some rainy Sunday when you have more time than money, it’s well worth indulging in one of these classic dishes. While your home fills up with the tasty aromas of an earlier time, you can indulgently curl up with a good book that starts in a hole in the ground.
Sunday Roast Chicken
A single roast chicken could feed a small family for days. On Sunday night, the parents might have a thigh each while the kids got a drumstick. The next day, everyone would have slices of cold chicken breast with plenty of pickles, mustard, and a chunk of bread. Once all the meat was gone, the rest of the carcass would go into a pot to be turned into broth for soup.
1 whole roasting chicken
½ c / 115 g room temperature butter
5 tbsp fresh garden herbs, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp coarse salt
1 whole head of garlic
2 large sprigs of rosemary
2 ¼ lbs / 1 kg carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch / 5 cm chunks
2 ¼ lbs / 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch / 5 cm chunks
Preheat your oven to 475F/245C.
While your oven heats up, mince five tbsps of your favorite fresh garden herbs. If you’re not sure what to use, try 2 tbsp rosemary and 1 each of basil, thyme, and marjoram. Don’t let that limit you, though. Use whatever grows in your corner of the Shire. If herbs are out of season, you can also substitute 2 ½ tbsp of any pre-mixed herb blend.
Mix the minced herbs with the butter, minced garlic, and coarse salt.
Once you’ve achieved a nice, chunky herb butter, set it aside. Now peel your carrots and potatoes. You can also add other root vegetables common to the Shire such as turnips or rutabaga (also known as swede). Just make sure they’re peeled and cut into 2 inch /5 cm chunks so all the vegetables will cook evenly.
Spread an even layer of peeled, cubed vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Now it’s time to deal with the bird itself.
Thoroughly rinse the interior and exterior of your chicken in cold water. Remove any gizzards or other internal organs. Use paper towels to pat it dry. A dry chicken bathed in butter will produce a nice, crispy skin. A wet chicken, on the other hand, will end up with limp, soggy skin. Do yourself a favor and dry it up.
Cut your whole head of garlic in half horizontally. Rub it all over the interior of the bird. This not only adds flavor, but also has a mild antiseptic effect. This combination of flavor and sanitation is why people commonly rub cut lemons on the interior of a chicken then leave the citrus in place while it cooks. However, since citrus would’ve been extremely expensive in the sort of rural English village that inspired the Shire, they would’ve saved lemons for recipes where they played a starring role. (If you’re not a stickler for period accuracy, feel free to cut a lemon in half, spike it with a couple of cloves, and rub that around the interior as well.)
Gently bruise your rosemary sprigs and stuff them in the cavity along with the two halves of the garlic. Tie the legs together to keep the stuffing in place.
Use your fingers to loosen the skin. Gently slide a tbsp of herb butter under as much skin as possible. Rub another two tbsps of herb butter over the entire bird. Try to coat it as thoroughly as possible. Dot the vegetables with the remaining butter.
Snuggle the bird into its vegetable nest. Roast it at 475F / 245C for 25 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to carefully turn the vegetables surrounding the bird. You want to make sure all of them get a little bit of butter and/or drippings. Return the bird to the oven and continue roasting at 400F / 205C for another 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer plunged into the thickest part of the thigh registers 160F / 162C internal temperature.
Check on the bird around the 30 minute mark. If the skin is getting too crispy, tent some aluminum foil on top to keep it from burning.
When you pull your chicken out of the oven, let it rest
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