Lemon & Smoke Salt Brined Roasted Chicken with Brown Butter & Crisped Sage | Our very best Sunday Supper | A Complete Menu
Lemon & Smoke Salt Brined Roasted Chicken with Brown Butter & Crisped Sage
Roasted Garlic & Asiago Mashed Yukons | Balsamic Roasted String Beans
Popovers with Marionberry Whipped Butter
The Ultimate Fall Dessert (a special preview…)
Lemon & Smoke Salt Brined Roasted Chicken with Brown Butter & Crisped Sage.
The bonds that we create with others is what makes life worth living. Food is an integral part of that journey as it simply brings us together. Sunday has always been a special time of gathering for our family. Anatomy of a kitchen encourages all of our readers to create traditions that are unique to their own families & circle of friends.
Begin a day ahead for over night brine. If you are short on time, this chicken roasts up beautifully even without the brine. You still get a wonderful lemon perfumed chicken, rich with brown butter & sage. But the overnight brine really imparts a fantastic texture to the chicken & imbues flavor throughout.
serves 4
1 whole fryer 4-5 lbs.
Brine
2 lemons quartered
1/4 cup The Sum of all Smoke (or other smoked salt)
1/4 Turbinado sugar
3 bay leaf
1 tbsp. whole pepper corns
1 -2 qts. water
Seasoning
3 lemons (1 left whole punctured with a fork, the other two halved)
2 bunches of fresh sage
1/2 cup brown butter
smoked salt to taste
pepper to taste
1.) Remove giblets & neck from cavity, rinse chicken, pat dry & place in a sturdy gallon size ziplock bag. Combine salt, sugar, bay & pepper corns with 2 cups hot water, whisk until most of the salt is dissolved. Add 1 quart of cold water & pour over chicken, if necessary add enough water to cover chicken & zip the bag closed. Place in shallow dish & brine overnight.
2.) Preheat oven to 350f. Remove chicken from brine, pat dry & place in a roasting pan with a rack. Tuck wing tips under chicken & tie legs together with cooking twine. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pluck the nicest sage leaves from your bunches (about 10) with a bit of stem for aesthetics, toss into butter & fry until crisp & butter begins to foam up. Remove leaves & drain on paper towel. Continue to cook butter until it turns a a gentle brown color & emits a luscious nutty aroma. Remove from heat, remove froth from top & pour over your chicken (you may wish to reserve a tbsp. or so to drizzle over the potatoes below).
3.) Place remainder of sage into cavity of chicken along with the whole, punctured lemon. Place halved lemons around chicken in pan. Lightly salt & pepper to taste (remember the brine imparted salt throughout the chicken). Cook chicken until it’s golden brown & registers 170f. Allow chicken to rest 15-20 minutes before cutting into quarters or carving. Place cut pieces back into pan juices, toss each piece to coat. Garnish with crisped sage leaves.
Chef Notes: I found myself without kitchen twine & used a rosemary branch to bind the legs. It worked every bit as well, looked beautiful in the process & gave off the most wonderful aroma while the chicken roasted.
Roasted Garlic & Asiago Mashed Yukons
These potatoes are so flavorful you will not need gravy. However if you wish, simply thicken the pan juices from the roasted chicken recipe above with a little cornstarch. Or use a bit of the browned sage butter from the recipe above to drizzle over the potatoes with a few crisped sage leaves for garnish.
serves 4
1 large bulb of garlic roasted
2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed & peeled
1/2-1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Cut off top of garlic bulb exposing the cloves, rub down with a bit of olive oil & roast in a hot oven until golden brown on top & cloves are tender, cool & squeeze out cloves (if making the chicken above you can roast right in the same pan). Meanwhile heat a large pot of water to boiling then add potatoes. Cook until just tender when pierced with a fork but not falling a part. Drain & mash with a potato masher with listed ingredients. Start out with a half cup of milk & add as needed to achieve desired consistency. Alternately you can whip them in a bowl using electric beaters if your looking for a smoother texture. If desired, garnish with a little extra melted butter (or brown butter) & crispy sage leaves.
Balsamic Roasted Hericot Verts (Thin French string beans)
I never met a roasted vegetable that I didn’t like. The humble string bean is completely transformed through the roasting process. The balsamic vinaigrette caramelizes the string beans making them crispy in spots & tender in others. Absolutely one of my favorite side dishes. Serve them closer to room temperature for best flavor.
Serves 4
2 lbs. Hericot Verts (these are a specialty, extra thin species of string beans)
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette ( I am enamored with Trader Joe’s Balsamic Vinaigrette, I could drink it right out of the bottle!)
Preheat oven to 350f. Par-cook the string beans by steaming or boiling just long enough until have a tiny bit of yield to them & turn a bright green, about 5-7 minutes. Toss onto a sheet pan with the rest of listed ingredients & roast until beans are tender & browned in spots. Serve closer to room temperature for optimal flavor.
Chef Notes: These beans are easy like Sunday Morning but so delicious! They make a lovely accompaniment to an antipasto platter or Salad Nicoise.
Popovers with Whipped Marionberry Butter
serves 6
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter, divided
Marionberry Whipped Butter
1/4 cup butter softened
2 tbsp. honey
4 Marionberries (or blackberries)
zest of 1 lemon
Whip eggs & milk in a large bowl until slightly frothy. Sift flour & salt & add to egg mixture along with 2 tbsp. melted butter. Set batter aside for 30 minutes to allow gluten to relax. Preheat oven to 450f. Divide remaining butter between a six portioned popover pan (1 tsp. butter in each tin). Place popover pan in oven to melt butter & preheat pan. Swirl butter around & up sides of the cups & batter evenly between them. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 350f & continue to back another 15 minutes or until golden brown & crisped on the tops. Turn out of pan & slit each one in the side to allow steam to escape. Whip butter & honey in a small bowl until creamy & combined. Add berries (remove inner core of berries with a sharp knife) & zest, whip to combine. Serve warm with Marionberry whipped butter.
“You are cordially invited to the unveiling of an original recipe developed by Anatomy of a Kitchen. This recipe is not yet available to the public as we wanted to give our readers first viewing. Here’s a hint… this special dessert will become your quintessential for fall baking. Click on the link below to reveal the recipe. ”
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Michael Kenneth Erickson | Dec. 20 1988-May 3 2020
“This post is dedicated to my beautiful son Michael Kenneth Erickson who died trying to save another. Michael was a firefighter & did guard rail in the off season, his last words to me were “Whats for Dinner Mom… I’m starving!”
Your legacy of love lives on. May we think of you in a future light. Love Mom.”