Roasted Chicken

Inspired by Mom's pho ga and a craving for roasted chicken, I decided to roast a whole chicken, then reuse the carcass and uneaten meat to make the broth for pho ga. Thomas Keller's recipe is the recipe to use. Oh, my goodness... that was a beautifully moist chicken. D. complained that his slices of chicken breast were too moist. White meat? Too moist? I think I threw something at him. Keller's recipe keeps the breast insanely moist, which is due to the high heat and the lack of moist seasonings to avoid steaming the chicken.



The potatoes and cauliflower were placed under the chicken to absorb the fat. Removing the fat keeps it from smoking in the high heat. The potatoes, however, did not do well without some moisture. They were tough on the outside and slightly softer on the inside. Not uncooked, just had the moisture baked out without a skin to protect it. The cauliflower just tasted like fat. Ew. So, they served their purpose, but I was hoping they'd be edible, at least.

The chicken was served with an asparagus risotto recipe from the NY Times. It's a Batali recipe and while it tasted good, I didn't quite get the same green color as the picture. I think I messed up the asparagus puree with too much water.



Great meal... definitely one I'd make again.

No pictures, but a quick note on the pho ga. It turned out all right. Since the chicken was already cooked, I couldn't use as much water as I normally would for a stock. I still added too much water, so we had to bolster it with bouillon. Still pretty good and somewhat like Mom's.