in good taste, vol. 50: muscle memory
killer pistachios, the latest news from the arctic, and parmesan roast chicken
I had a bachelorette party a couple of weekends ago, a quick trip with good friends that was both great fun and a little fuzzy around the edges. I don’t necessarily condone chopping with a dull knife after a … couple of cocktails, but we do what we have to in a rental. For dinner on our last night, I made a ragu pasta sauce, one of those no-recipe-recipes that has become mostly muscle memory.
Muscle memory cooking is such an interesting idea. Physical dexterity coupled with quick-access memory, and enough extra imagination to put a fish sauce or nutmeg flair in there, should the vibes be right. My friend Mallory prefers to cook with a recipe in front of her, but I'm betting most of what she cooks is related to intuition, or instinct, rather than a recipe. And I love recipes!
A little rich to be talking about intuitive cooking when I put out recipes every week, but here we are! In other words, if you're going to cook on a short, drunk vacation, you'd best have a muscle memory recipe ready to go.
WELL, THAT’S ENOUGH OF THAT
Pistachios: nature’s killing machines
There is a settlement in Antarctica that is so remote that to live there, you have to have your appendix removed
In much cheerier Arctic(ish) news, how about foxes with gardens
Imagine “dusty hunters” on dating apps:
“‘There were these funny photos of guys standing in front of their cars, holding up dusty bottles as if they were trophy fish they had just caught’”
Experiencing the fajita effect
Now THIS is the kind of stat that doesn’t appear enough in strategy decks: “the average person is holding onto 13 secrets, five of which they've never told a living soul”
THE PARMY ROAST CHICKEN YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED
Did you need another roast chicken recipe? I’ve shared a roast chicken recipe before. But this one is the new staple in our house. It’s got a couple of controversial stances -- namely, that it’s cooked upside-down (sun’s out, thighs out) and has something of a Parmesan shell. It is perfect.
INGREDIENTS
1 3-4 lb. whole chicken
3-4 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lemon
2 heaping tsp. of salt
2 heaping tsp. pepper
2 tsp. za’atar
2 tsp. herbes de Provence
½ c. grated Parmesan
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
WHAT TO DO
Dry the chicken with a towel to the best of your ability, including the inside cavity.
Zest the lemon in a small bowl with the rest of the dry spices/seasonings, and mix them up until uniformly combined (when you’re done zesting, cut the lemon in half and set aside). At a steady pace, apply the rub to the entire chicken, making sure to get in the crevices behind the wings. If you have some left over, season the inside of the bird as well. Let sit to come to room temp, or about an hour (otherwise, refrigerate).
Heat oven to 425, and place some aluminum foil on a high-rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Drizzle oil over the chicken. Stick rosemary sprigs and half the lemon inside the cavity of the bird, then put it on the pan -- and this is an important detail-- thigh-side up. Roast at 425 for 30 minutes.
At the 30-minute point, take the chicken out, squeeze the remaining half of lemon all over it, and do your best to sprinkle your Parmesan all over the chicken (no need to flip and do the underside). Try to get all the cheese on there; not all of it will stick but if you’re careful, you can kind of poke/“pat” the majority of it on the bird. Put back in the oven and roast for another 30 minutes. Check the chicken temp at that point: it’s done at 165.
Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes. Carve and enjoy with potatoes (below) and/or a bright green salad.
Level up: Chop and boil yellow potatoes while the chicken is on its second roast time, drain them and season with salt, pepper, more lemon, a tsp. of white vinegar, tossing to combine.
When the chicken is done, you can use the liquid fat to coat the potatoes and roast them for about ~25 minutes at 425, until brown and crispy. They will taste exactly like the old version of McDonald’s french fries, which IYKYK.