Ahh the seasonality of food. There are so many dishes and ingredients that really hit the spot during a certain season - the season they're available. And its no accident of course that we've come to associate these foods with the season because thats when they are available. In today, with the advent of globalization, factory farming, and freight shipping, you can get any food at any time of the year, albeit of suspect quality. Ever since the 50s we've gotten away from being restricted to using only whats in season. You can get tomatoes, peppers, and lemons in the winter no problem. I can't say its all bad because I am thankful that I can eat olives, mangos, and grapefruits for instance which don't grow around here, but there is something festive and comforting about creating a dish with seasonal ingredients that really strikes home and goes in tune with the smells, colors, sounds, and activities of autumnal weather. Another plus of cooking with seasonal ingredients is that it can almost guarantee freshness, especially if you get them from a farmers market. I encourage you to start buying direct from farms and/or farmers markets. Not because its hip but because it supports a good cause and its a better product for YOU. Think about it, you want to be able to go to the person direct if you have a problem with your food, and on the flip side if you have special request, you can develop a report with your farmers and they will be more than happy to accommodate. Buying direct also means less shipping and less packaging! Cutting out the middle man means cheaper prices and more information about where the food comes from and how it was raised/grown. If nothing else, going to an open air farmers market is so much more fulfilling an experience than shopping at the grocery store where everything is behind plastic with elevator music in the background and moms yelling at their little Jonny and Jonny crying because he cant get 3 candy-bars and having the workers not know where or what capers are and dealing with the cash register with the attitude chewing bubble gum asking if you want to sign up for such and such a card. whew!
This dish consists of chicken thighs, parsnip, apples, onion, and arugula but with the proper preparation, the sum of the parts meld together to make this a downright delicious, yet simple meal. I always start with a whole bird (more on that in a later post), this is the deboned legnthigh as I like to call it. Its basically a flattened out piece of dark meat. The elements that make this dish really come to life besides the quality of the products are the fact that I brined the bird making it perfectly seasoned throughout and keeping it from drying out during cooking. In addition, using high heat and getting some nice caramelization on the root vegetables brings out those maillard reactions that taste so delicioso. The third little tid-bit in this dish that makes a huge difference is letting the skin of the bird air dry in the fridge uncovered on a rack for a day or two - this makes the skin cris-up quite nicely.
RECIPE
Brine for the Chicken (whole bird jointed into 4 parts)
3 cups water
1 1/2 cups apple cider (preferrably unpasteurized)
4 cloves of garlic crushed
5 toasted coriander seeds
3 bay leaves
5-8 sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary
5 allspice berries
1/4 cup sea salt
1 tbl sugar
Bring all ingredients to a boil and then simmer for 5 min. Remove from heat and let cool in fridge. Alternitively, to save some time, you could start with half the water and then after the 5 minute simmer, add ice and the apple cider to bring the total volume of liquid to 4.5 cups. Let the chicken brine for 3 hrs and then wash and pat dry. Place chicken uncovered on a rack with a plate underneath so that air is allowed to flow around the pieces of chicken. Let dry overnight or up to 3 days. The chicken will not go bad in this state, the brine helps preserve it as well as the peticle (dry shiny layer) that is formed on the meat during this drying period. It will actually help keep flavor and moisture in and bacteria out. As mentioned earlier, this will get the skin of your legnthigh very very crisp when seared properly. To cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 425, heat a tbl of olive oil in a cast iron or stainless skillet until the oil ripples. This indicates that it is hot enough to sear. Make sure to catch it before it smokes, as this will denature the oil. Press the chicken skin side down unto the pan and turn down the heat to medium. Let the chicken cook skin side down for most of the time until it starts to get very brown and crisp (about 5-10 min). If the skin starts to brown too much flip it over and finish in the oven. If you do it right you should be able to finish it in the oven skin side down - the top side will finish cooking from the ambient air in the oven. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before diggin in.
While your chicken is cooking have ready
2 Apples cut into 1 in x 1 in chunks
1 whole yellow onion cut into 12 chunks
4 parsnips peeled and sliced into 1 in x 1/4 in pieces
5 sprigs of thyme
Heat 2 tbl of olive oil in a pan big enough to fit the ingredients without crowding (alternatively do in batches if you dont have a big enough pan to accomodate all the ingredients). When the oil ripples, toss in the medly and when the outsides begin to brown toss in the oven to finish roasting. Remove when nice and brown and tender.
While the medly is roasting and the chicken is cris-up-ing, toss a handful of arugula with a drizzle of walnut oil, sea salt, champagne vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. I made a pan-jus out of chicken stock and raw butter but this is optional as I understand not everyone has those 2 items laying around (but its something to consider...). Serve the chicken thigh over the parsnip, apple, onion medly with the arugula scattered on top and wallow in the fruits of your labor and let your mind drift (alternatively you could talk to the person next to you).
cool man! looking forward to more posts!
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