Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risott
Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risott
Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risott
Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risott

Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risott

Roast Chicken and Carrots & Risotto

Roast chicken and “veg” has been a mainstay of British and American Sunday dinners since time out of mind. This week, Danny pairs a classically roasted chicken and carrots with risotto, a northern Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. A quick internet search shows that - surprisingly - the oldest recipes for roast chicken come from the 15th century. According to the British Food History website, that’s because chickens were rarely roasted because they were valued more for laying eggs than for their meat. Only chickens that stopped laying and castrated cockerels, known as capons, were eaten, apparently.

Here’s a recipe for “Chicken Endored” from around 1450: “Take a chicken, draw it and roast it; let the feet be on and take away the head. Then make a batter of egg yolks and flour, and add to it ground ginger and pepper, saffron and salt, and spread it over until it is roasted enough.”

Likewise, risotto is a simple and traditional dish created in northern Italy and served as the first course in Italian suppers. Arabs introduced rice to Sicily and Spain, where it became a staple in dishes such as paella, according to the Cuisine at Home website. Northern Italians began growing rice in the marshy land surrounding the Po River valley in around 1400. The traditional risotto recipe calls for searing the rice in butter and stirring it to a creamy consistency in meat, fish, or vegetable broth. A basic risotto dish also contains onion, white wine, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Saffron is sometimes used for flavoring and to imbue the signature yellow color.

Preparing risotto was a new experience for Danny, so he roasted potatoes as a backup. His risotto turned out beautifully, however, because he patiently tended to it to get the texture and flavors right.

“[The secret is] not leaving the pan,” he said. “Babysitting it and slowly adding the heated broth was key.”

As always, you can find all the ingredients for this week’s recipe at Stewart’s Food Store.

Buon appetito!

Suggested Ingredients: 1 whole chicken 1 garlic bulb cut crosswise ½ onion 1 lemon cut in half 4 carrots 3 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil Thyme Herbes de Provence Salt and Pepper Risotto

1 cup rice (not Basmati or Jas mine) 1 quart of chicken or vegetable broth ½ cup of white wine 1 clove of garlic ¼ cup finely chopped onion 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil ¾ cup of grated parmesan zest form ½ lemon.

Preparation: Chicken:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Step 2: Stuff the cavity of the chicken with garlic, onion, and lemon halves. Paint chicken with butter and liberally dust w/ salt, pepper, and herbs.

Step 3: Wash carrots and place in the bottom of a small roasting pan. Add two tablespoons of olive oil on top of the carrots. Place chicken, breast side up, on top of carrots.

Step 4: Cook uncovered until the internal temperature of chicken on a meat thermometer is 165 degrees, approximately 20 minutes per pound. Let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving

Risotto:

Step 1: Heat broth in a pan. In a large skillet, saute onion for two minutes in olive oil and butter.

Add garlic and saute for one minute.

Step 2: Add dry rice to skillet and stir until rice just begins to brown. Add wine, stir and cook over medium heat until all the liquid is absorbed, two to three minutes.

Step 3: Stir ¼ cup of warmed broth in a skillet until all liquid is absorbed. Add another ¼ cup of broth and stir until absorbed. Continue this until all broth is used. This will take a while - at least 10 minutes. The rice texture should begin to turn creamy but still al dente.

Step 4: Increase heat. Add Parmesan, lemon zest, and black pepper. Stir well for two minutes.