Julia Child famously said that a perfect roast chicken requires a “greed for perfection”. This version requires a bit of forethought but could hardly be easier. And it’s nearly the perfect chicken meal — shatteringly crisp skin, moist and flavorful meat, and and light arugula salad studded with croutons of crusty bread flavored with chicken drippings and browned in chicken fat.
Spicy, flavorful and delicious — this puts plain barbecue chicken to shame.
This is somewhat spicy and intensely flavorful, and makes a great filling for tacos or burritos.
Chicken and tarragon are truly a perfect pairing, as the French have long known. So when you can find some fresh tarragon, get a best-quality chicken from the farmers market and make this beautiful dish for yourself and your family.
A generous quantity of Dijon mustard enlivens this winey, creamy chicken dish. Delicious on its own, or served with rice or pasta.
This lovely old recipe is easy, delicious, and very French.
In the 50s and 60s there was an entire genre of recipes involving cooking with your broiler. In an earlier age, this was generally what was meant by ‘grilled’. I love charcoal grilling, but I hope this recipe will convince you to reclaim the broiler as a primary cooking method.
This is a bit of a project, but makes a magnificent main dish for an intimate dinner with close friends.
My husband and I like to have a quiet Christmas Eve dinner at home, as Christmas day is joyfully busy with visits to family and friends. Duck is what I made the first year we celebrated Christmas together at home, and we’ve stuck with it. Here, the duck is stuffed with a rich and festive dressing including chestnuts, sausage, apples and the livers from the ducks. A reduced pan sauce with port wine guilds the lily. With so spectacular a main dish, not much else is needed - steamed asparagus tossed in melted butter, and perhaps some fingerling potatoes roasted in duck fat until golden and crisp.
This simple and delicious salad was inspired by a recipe from the New Braunfels Smokehouse by way of Karen Haram’s beautiful 1994 “San Antonio Cuisine”. It can easily be halved for a smaller crowd.