Chix and Foie

Roasted chicken (Plum Creek) w/ foie gras sauce (foie from Kate's Fish--ask for it). Nothing too complicated, but super tasty. Served with roasted asparagus (Muddy Fork), 'cause the oven was already hot, and slices of baguette (On The Rise) with homemade butter (Snowville Creamery) and a plate of sea salt. What could be better?

The 3 lbs chicken was cooked in a mixed Zuni-Bouchon style. It was salted for about 8 hrs, rinsed, seriously dried, seasoned again with salt, and trussed (nothing fancy with the tying--just getting the wings close to the body and making sure the drumsticks provided some protection to the breasts). It went into a 460ish oven breast side up, was flipped over at about the 40 minute mark, then flipped back to breast side up to finish for a process that took just about an hour. I used the hour to drink wine (a nice rosé), make the foie sauce, and answer multiple calls from the home security company--this technique created a lot of smoke (but no burning). The smoke is probably not a problem if you have a range hood, which I don't. If I have the time to presalt this is the only way I'll ever roast chicken in the future. Tasted like chicken.

The recipe for the foie sauce came from here, and I liked it. As enjoyable as this foie was, it did have some vein action going on, so it seemed best suited for searing and things like sauces. I messed with the linked recipe a little bit, adding some alcohol to the sauce early on (if I did it again I think I'd finish with just a tiny drop of whiskey, rather than starting with it). After the booze was cooked off in went some shallots and a big chunk of homemade butter (just cream beaten up in a food processor--it's obvious when it's ready--that's kneaded in in ice water). When the shallots were soft I added a somewhat pureed mixture of 2 parts foie and one part butter, pork stock, and a little cream to the sauce pan. It's kind of like creating a little heart attack. The sauce got seasoned with salt and black pepper and then quickly buzzed in a blender. I didn't bother to strain and the sauce was smooth, but it may be worth a thought? Really great stuff. Crazy decadent, and despite the overall richness each component of the sauce's flavors came out. Now to get the foie on the regular rotation.