Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1 4-pound roast chicken (view Roast Chicken recipe below)
- ½ pound green beans, trimmed
- ½ pound asparagus
- ¼ pound snow peas
- 2 tablespoons pignoli nuts, toasted
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
- squeeze of fresh lemon or dash of vinaigrette
- Fairway Sea Salt and Tellicherry Pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water to blanch the vegetables. This will be used to rapidly cool each batch of vegetables and stop the cooking process.
- Fill a saucepan with 1 to 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Add the green beans, cover, and lower the heat to medium.
- Simmer the green beans until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the green beans from water with tongs and place them into the ice water bath to stop the cooking. Once cool to the touch, remove green beans from water and place on folded paper towels to dry.
- Using the same saucepan and the same ice water bath (refreshed with fresh ice cubes, when necessary), repeat the same process for the asparagus and the snow peas.
- Once the asparagus have cooled, cut them into 2-inch pieces.
- Once the snow peas have cooled, cut them crosswise into thin slices (julienne).
- Remove all of the meat from the roast chicken and tear into pieces.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the chicken, blanched vegetables, pignoli nuts, minced chives, mayonnaise, lemon, salt and pepper.
- Toss the ingredients gently until everything is evenly coated in dressing and seasoning being careful not to break everything up too much.
Chef’s Note: This salad is best served at room temperature.
Roast Chicken
INGREDIENTS
Serves: 4
- 1 4-pound chicken
- Fairway Sea Salt
- Fresh-ground Fairway Tellicherry Pepper
- 1 head of garlic, top cut-off
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon Fairway Olive Oil
- Kitchen twine
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Wash and dry the chicken very well, inside and out. Rub the cavity with salt and pepper.
- Place the head of garlic and the thyme sprigs inside the cavity.
- Truss (tie up) the chicken to ensure even cooking:
4.1. Cut a 30-inch length of kitchen string or twine. Place the chicken breast-side up on a cutting board and push the legs in toward the body to tuck them tightly against the sides, forcing the breast up and making it plump.
4.2. Slide the length of string under the back (at the tail end), near the tips of the drumsticks.
4.3. Lift the string up on both sides, bringing it up over the drumsticks, and cross, sliding the string under the ends of the drumsticks. Pull tight.
4.4. Bring the string along both sides of the chicken between the leg and the breast.
4.5. While holding the string tightly, turn the chicken over on its breast side. Bring one end of the string above the wing and under the bone of the neck, securing the loose neck skin as you go.
4.6. Tightly secure the string to its other end with a knot and cut off excess.
- Once the chicken is good and tied up, heat the butter and oil in a heavy, oven-safe pan on the top of your stove.
- Roll the chicken in the pan to cover the whole chicken in the melted butter and oil mixture.
- Rest the chicken on its side, and place the pan in the middle of oven. Let it roast for 15 minutes.
- Turn the chicken on its opposite side and roast for another 15 minutes.
- Now turn the chicken on its back (breast up) and roast for 40 minutes, basting every 5 to 10 minutes (the more the better).
- Remove the chicken from the oven. Pierce the chicken near the leg joint to make sure the juices run clear.
- Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.
