The Best Roasted Chicken is a feast for friends in the crisp air of Fall.
First of all, Alison Roman is a genius. Her cookbook Dining In reveals new flavors that will deepen any cook’s connection to food. This Fall dinner party meal adapts and combines a delicious recipe from Alison and a yummy squash recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Cooking with Jamie. Ask one friend to bring excellent red wine and another to bring apple pie and ice cream, and enjoy this cozy gathering in celebration of the harvest!
Once you’ve hosted this Fall dinner party, at least one of your friends will not be able to stop talking about the croutons soaking in the juices. It’s simple and beautiful. Gathering your friends around this family style meal is slightly barbaric, joyfully gluttonous in all the best ways - rich and golden, warm and flowing - rooting your gathering in the season of the feast.
The steps have been designed to allow you the space to enjoy the ritual of hosting and to be organized and stress-free once your guests arrive. This hosting ritual will deepen your connection to your friends and generate self-pride in your own ability to take care of them for an evening. They will feel the love and energy you’ve created as soon as they enter your home - a big warm hug in which to experience Fall together.
Anchovy-Butter Roasted Chicken, Sweet & Sour Squash, Arugula and Dripping Croutons
serves 4-6 ; begin your preparations 2-3 hours before your friends are to arrive (the bird will take 1.5 hours in the oven)
Ingredients & Steps:
get fresh: a medium butternut squash, 4 lb chicken, 2 bunches flat-leaf parsley, 1 bunch thyme
check if you have first: whole dried red chili, coriander seeds, a can of anchovies, 2 heads of garlic, 4 red onions, a loaf of crusty rustic bread, raisins (a handful), pine nuts (a handful), white wine, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, olives, cheese & crackers
Set your table. Lay out a table cloth if desired and any table decor on your table leaving plenty of room for the plates and food. Put candles on your table and around your home, to be lit later. Gather plates, water glasses, wine glasses, napkins, forks and knives and set them at one end of your dining table. Gather a lighter, wine opener, carving knife, salad servers, two large serving spoons, two hot pads/towels (one that can fit a large baking sheet on top and another that can fit a cast iron pan on top) and set these at the other end of the table. If your table is round, I’d recommend going ahead and putting place settings together at their places and setting all the tools and servers in the middle. Set some bowls and spoons out in a corner of the kitchen along with a pie server and an ice cream scoop in preparation for the dessert your friends are bringing along.
Prepare the ingredients. Take your chicken and a stick of unsalted butter out of the fridge and a stick of butter and set them aside to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 425. Gather a knife, a large cutting board, mortar and pestle and a large cast-iron pan, and a vegetable peeler. Gather olive oil, salt, pepper, 2 bulbs of garlic, thyme, 4 red onions, coriander seeds, 1 dried red chili and the butternut squash.
Peel the butternut squash with the vegetable peeler and compost the scraps. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds (save for toasting later if desired). Cut the squash into finger sized pieces and put into the cast iron pan along with a big glug of olive oil and the red chili.
Quarter two of the red onions (do not peel) and leave on the cutting board. Hand-peel and finely slice the other two and add them to the cast iron pan.
In the mortar, add a tablespoon of coriander seeds and mash with the pestle. Add the coriander to the cast iron pan.
Cut one bulb of garlic in half crosswise (do not peel) and put with the unpeeled onion quarters. Hand-peel and finely chop 6 cloves from the other bulb. Separate the chopped garlic into two piles of 1/3 and 2/3 the total amount.
Split the bunch of thyme in half. Lay one half next to the unpeeled garlic and onion chunks. Remove the leaves from the other half and add to the larger pile of garlic.
Finely chop 10 anchovy fillets and keep in a pile on the cutting board.
Get the chicken in the oven. Gather a small bowl, a baking sheet, a fork and two kitchen towels.
Smash together the anchovies, the smaller pile of garlic and the butter together with salt and pepper.
Remove packaging from chicken and set onto the baking sheet. Dry the chicken with a towel then toss the towel directly in the wash.
Smear the anchovy butter all over the chicken, in every nook and cranny including under the skin.
Stuff the chicken cavity with the unpeeled garlic and the 1/2 bunch of thyme.
Scatter the onions around the chicken, then put in the oven to roast for 35 minutes.
Cover the prepared ingredients that are left and the cast iron pan with the other kitchen towel. Do a quick clean of the things that you won’t be using again and the pantry ingredients away.
Prepare your home. While the chicken is roasting, start a fire and open some windows to get the crisp air involved, drape a blanket over each chair at the dining table. Open a bottle of white wine (for cooking and for drinking), pour yourself a glass and place the bottle near the stove. Prepare a plate of nice olives, cheese and crackers and leave out for your guests to munch on when they arrive.
Tend to the chicken. Grab some tongs and throw on oven mitts. Open the oven and toss the onions around in the juice that’s gathering at the bottom of the chicken. Close the oven, reduce the temperature to 350 and continue to roast for 30 minutes.
Make the squash and salad. Gather a lid for the cast iron pan, a medium bowl, a napkin, and a bread knife. Gather raisins, pine nuts, arugula, a bunch of parsley, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and the loaf of rustic bread. Unveil your other ingredients.
Place the cast iron pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high.
Finely chop the stalks of the parsley and leave in a pile. Roughly chop the leaves and leave them in a pile.
Add a wineglass of water to the cast iron pan then cover with the lid and cook for ten minutes.
While the squash is cooking add the arugula to the medium sized bowl and cover with a napkin. Bring this to the table and pair with salad servers.
Slice (or tear) the bread into 2-inch pieces and leave on the cutting board.
Add the pile of chopped garlic and thyme to the cast iron pan of squash and onions as well as a good pinch of salt and pepper. Lower the heat to a medium low and stir through. Watch this and stir every so often for a few minutes. Mindfully stir in the love and intention of joy for the evening while stirring clockwise. Speak the words out loud if you wish.
Add a handful of raisins, the parsley stalks, and a handful of pine nuts and stir for another minute or so. Then, add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of maple syrup and a glug of white wine. Stir for another few minutes, then cover and turn off the heat.
Finish cooking. Grab a platter or another baking sheet. Pull the chicken from the oven and set it on the platter, leaving the juices and onions on the baking sheet. Increase the oven temp to 425. Toss the bread chunks onto the baking sheet and mix around with tongs until covered in juices. Return the baking sheet to the oven to crisp up the bread for 10-15 minutes. Clean up the kitchen while the croutons are cooking, leaving only your fresh parsley. Take out the baking sheet from the oven. Using the tongs, push the onions and croutons to one side of the banking sheet. Put the chicken back onto the baking sheet in the middle and then move the onions and croutons to surround it. Depending on when you will be serving, either let the chicken rest on the stove or place back into the oven at a super low “keep warm” setting. Check the temperature of the squash and either leave as is covered, or turn the heat on very low. Everything will stay yummy and warm while you welcome your guests. You are done cooking!
Get ready to hang. Take off your apron, light your candles, and await your crew. Your chicken is done and resting and your squash is ready on the stove. When you and your guests are ready to eat, simply throw on your oven mitts. Take the entire baking sheet with chicken and croutons out of the oven, sprinkle half the fresh parsley over the top and bring to the table. Ask someone to carve and someone else to open the wine. Head back for the squash - stir the rest of the parsley into the pan, then remove from the stove and take out to the table. Allow everyone to help themselves to plates, napkins, food and wine. Prepare to accept the yumms, mmmms and outward compliments with grace, never denying how good this truly is, and extend gratitude for your friendships in return.
“Preparing and serving food had always been a joy, for it made her appreciate the abundance of the world.” - Until the Dawn, by Elizabeth Camden
