Outside of turning garlic bread to charcoal, I don't use my broiler much. There was that one time when my grill was broken and I broiled a flank steak, but other than that I tend to favor high heat roasting--complete with smoke pouring out of the oven.
But Judith Jones can't be wrong.
I'm most impressed with myself for remembering to defrost the half chicken I froze over the weekend, after disassembling it into the required parts for stock and meals later in the week. (I won't lie--that was not my most favorite activity ever.) Jones' recipe calls for roasting both chicken halfs, but I wanted to use my bird for other things.
With the grace of my lovely tiny food processor, making the herb-shallot-garlic rub was painless. Jones instructs one to make a garlic paste first and then mince things by hand, but during mid-week madness, I'm okay with garlic bits instead of garlic schmoo.
And then, we wait. I had the laughable thought that I would do the marinating in the morning before leaving for work so I could immediately cook upon returning home. But that can only work for mornings that start after 10am.
And then, voila.
Verdict: The herb marinade was just okay, but then I'm not a big fan of tarragon. I pulled the chicken out early, but it was still a little over done. I don't know that I would go to the bother of roasting half a chicken again, when I so prefer dark meat and can easily roast a chicken thigh or whole leg instead. The veggies were nicely caramelized and flavorful, though my Achilles heel of undersalting remains consistently annoying.
And as for broiling, I think I prefer roasting. Less fuss, less anxiety about scorching the earth.
They can't all be home runs, but at least it was fun trying!
Really looking forward to tomorrow's pot pie.
Adapated from The Pleasures of Cooking for One.
1 strip of lemon peel
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon
1 smallish garlic clove
1 smallish shallot
1/2 small handful Italian parsley
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra
pinch of salt
1 chicken half
1 carrot, peeled and split lengthwise
1 parsnip, peeled and split lengthwise
2-3 new potatoes, sliced in half
1-2 small shallots (or 2-3 small onion slices), sliced in half
pepper
Mince together the first five ingredients. Add in the tablespoon of olive oil. Rub mixture under chicken skin--leg, thigh, breast. Let chicken sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, or all day.
Scatter vegetables around chicken half--which is totally not how it is pictured above. (I like lemon slices in my roastedbroiled chicken, so I added them.)
Broil chicken, skin side down--at a height of 6 inches from broiler. Baste with olive oil after about 5 minutes, and as the vegetables cook, tuck them under the chicken to keep them from overly charring.
After 20 minutes, carefully flip chicken, shuffle the veggies around, and broil for another 15 minutes.
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