Ferran Adrià’s roasted chicken

Posted: October 27, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Chicken | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

An impromptu diner lead to a seriously good roasted chicken – my poor suffering testers guests still talk about it. For bonus points, combine it with roasted potatoes, onions and romesco sauce.

Roasted chicken (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)

Ingredients (6-8 persons)

  • 4-6 bay leaves
  • 40 g dried rosemary
  • 15g dried thyme
  • Black pepper corns to tast (about 1 tablespoon)
  • Olive oil as needed to brush the chicken
  • Salt
  • A total of bout 4 kg  whole chickens (I ended up with 3 chickens)
  • 3 lemons  (1 per chicken)
  • 6  unpeeled garlic cloves (2 per chicken)
  • 200 mL white wine
  • water

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 oC.

Start the herb crust:  put in a small blender the bay, rosemary, thyme and peppers. Process until you have a very fine powder.

Prepare the chicken to be roasted – wash, cut the tips of the wings and tail. Season with salt and pepper inside and outside.

Put  the chicken on a roasting tray lined some olive oil, breast up.  Brush the chicken with olive oil and finely great the lemon zest over it. Stuff it with 1 lemon cut in pieces and 2 garlic cloves.

Roast the chicken, breast up. After 25min, turn it around and let it roast for another 35min, or until golden and cooked through.

Remove the chicken and set aside covered with foil.

Poor the white wine and the water in the cooking tray to deglaze and remove all the sediments.

Collect all the cooking juices in a small pan and put on high heat. Boil the cooking juices until you have a gravy.

Carve the chicken and serve it with the gravy

Baked onions and potatoes with romesco sauce

Posted: October 22, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Autumn flavors – roasted potatoes and onions with a nutty sauce to go with it….. hearty food with rich flavors, different textures and enough substance to satisfy your appetite. And, once you have enough romesco sauce on stock, very easy and quick.

Romesco sauce  (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe tomato
  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • 60mL of olive oil
  • 70g toasted blanched hazelnuts
  • 200 of sliced white country-style bread
  • 50 mL of sherry vinegar (fifty, not five hundred)
  • 240g of roasted peppers (Adrià recommends Chorizero pepper paste, but I was not able to source. I replaced it an equivalent quantity of with preserved roasted peppers)

Method Pre heat the oven to 200 oC Put the tomato and head of garlic in a roasted tray and cook for about 45min or until is tender and blackened. Peel the tomatoes and garlic cloves and put into a big bowl (more likely, you will have to squeeze the garlic). Roast the hazelnuts in a pan with a bit of olive oil over medium heat, until they are dark golden. Remove, drain with a kitchen paper and set aside. Fry the bread with a bit of olive oil, and break to small pieces with your hands. Add the vinegar, nuts, bread, fried bread and peppers to the bowl where the tomato and garlic are. Process with a hand held blender to make a coarse paste. Blend in the olive oil until smooth. Baked potatoes (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal) Ingredients 

  • 1 baking potato per person
  • 2 small onions per person
  • Salt to taste

Method Pre heat the oven to 200 oC Wrap each potato in aluminum foil Put in a roasting tray and bake for about 45min or until the potatoes are soft  and onion skins are charred. Cut the potatoes and the onions in half. Season with salt to taste. Serve with the romesco sauce.

Ferran Adrià’s Guacamole with tortilla chips

Posted: October 6, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Fruit, Tapas, Vegetarian | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Seriously, no need to buy special spices mix in expensive packages with a kilometer long list of ingredients. Making guacamole is as easy as this…

Guacamole with tortilla chips (adapted from Ferran Adrià’s The Family Meal)

Ingredients (for 6)

  • 2 ripe tomatos, peeled and diced
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 3 avocados
  • 1 onion very finely diced
  • 4 tablespoons of  finely chopped fresh coriander
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • Salta and pepper to taste
  • Tortilla chips

Method

Start by peeling the tomatoes. Put the tomatoes in boiling water and leave for about 10 min. Put them in iced water to quickly cool them down. Pull the skin out of the tomatoes with a small knife. Dice them into very small cubes.

Finely chop the onion.

Pick the leafs out of the coriander stalks and chop them very.

Cut the avocados in half and remove the stones. Remove the flesh with a spoon. Put them in a bowl in mash them with a fork until you have a coarse paste.

Add the tomato, onion and coriander to the avocado paste and mix everything with a spoon until incorporated into the mix.

Finally, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with the tortilla chips.