Well, actually, I had a brain-fart and thought Thanksgiving
was *this* week. So I was at the store Sunday and loaded up.

D'oh!

But that meant I don't have to wait until Thursday! so I
got to cook it all up today.

Here's what I had:

grilled spatchcocked chicken w/ southwest seasoning (Emeril's SW blend)
flaky biscuits (pillsbury's Grands)
mashed potatoes
homemade chicken gravy
salad w/ homemade balsamic italian dressing
chateau st jean fume blanc
pumpkin pie w/ homemade whipped cream

Everything turned out great, despite a couple of detours:

I used the spatchcocked ('butterflied') chicken recipe from
the Cook's Illustrated book, _The Best Recipe: Grilling &
Barbecuing_. You cut out the backbone, flatten out the
chicken, tuck in the wings and the legs, then pound it
with a mallet to even it out. Then when you grill it you
put a sheet-pan containing a couple of bricks on top of
the bird to keep it flattened out for more even cooking.
It was a 4.5-lb bird (smallest I could find in three
different stores) instead of a 3-lb bird, but I just
extended the time to 20-25 minutes per side and it cooked
up perfect; 168F in the Breast and 185F in the thigh.
It almost fell apart when I took it off. The only
seasoning I did was I sprinkled the Emeril's Southwest
blend on when it had about 10 minutes left.

The funny part is this: I'd put a potholder on my
grill's side shelf to hold the pan and the rock (a big
river rock from the yard in lieu of two bricks) while
I was flipping the chicken. Then I put the pan and
the rock back on the bird. Then I decided, you know, I
should oil this pan a little because it was kinda stuck
to the chicken when I took it off the first time. So I
got the oil from the kitchen and came back to remove the
pan, and I looked at the shelf--and the potholder was
gone! I looked on the ground and the table behind me,
and then slapped my forehead and looked under the pan.
The potholder was ON THE CHICKEN! D'oh! I lifted it off
okay, and just didn't bother using the weighted pan for the
second half of the cooking. It probably crisped the skin
a little better by not having the pan protecting it;
the bottom of the bird is flatter anyway and needs the
weight less. Next time, I'll oil the pan from the outset.
Despite that, the chicken was fantastic.

Second detour: I was preheating the oven for the biscuits,
and set it to 450 instead of 350, expecting to turn it
down when I put them in. And of course I forgot to turn
it down. They came out okay, if a little early and a
little more browned than I'd planned. Sort of dutch-oven
crispy on top. But not underdone inside, and just as
tasty and flaky as desired.

Here's the gravy recipe:

heat up 8 oz of chicken stock (not to boiling; just so it isn't cold).
get 1.5 tbs of oil hot in a pan.
add 2 tbs cake flour to oil and whisk until bubbling begins to subside.
drizzle chicken stock into roux, whisking gently but
thoroughly, and continue stirring until gravy begins
to thicken.
add salt and pepper

For this next time I think I'll use a better quality of
store-bought chicken stock. The Swanson brand was okay,
and extra convenient as it has a soda-can type flip-top,
but it wasn't spectacular.

Italian dressing:

whisk together 2 oz EVOO and 2 oz balsamic vinegar
1 tsp italian herbs (Emeril's Italian blend; there's nothing
phony or goofy in Emeril's seasonings, so I have no trouble
being a serial plugger for them)
add salt and pepper

This dressing is even better with rice-wine vinegar;
it makes more of an aioli consistency. Something in
the balsamic doesn't let that happen.

As meals go, even with the snafus, this was killer.
And snafus mean it can get even better.

--Blair
"Tomorrow: killer chicken salad."

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message
...
> Well, actually, I had a brain-fart and thought Thanksgiving
> was *this* week. So I was at the store Sunday and loaded up.
>
> D'oh!
>
> But that meant I don't have to wait until Thursday! so I
> got to cook it all up today.
>
> Here's what I had:
>
> grilled spatchcocked chicken w/ southwest seasoning (Emeril's SW
blend)
> flaky biscuits (pillsbury's Grands)
> mashed potatoes
> homemade chicken gravy
> salad w/ homemade balsamic italian dressing
> chateau st jean fume blanc
> pumpkin pie w/ homemade whipped cream
>

Ummmm, now that does sound like a warm and heartty meal ! I too have
purchased a few things ahead of time, one being 3 cans of whipped cream. I
am down to one can and I havent even had a piece of pie yet! ;-)

peace,
Barbara




> Everything turned out great, despite a couple of detours:
>
> I used the spatchcocked ('butterflied') chicken recipe from
> the Cook's Illustrated book, _The Best Recipe: Grilling &
> Barbecuing_. You cut out the backbone, flatten out the
> chicken, tuck in the wings and the legs, then pound it
> with a mallet to even it out. Then when you grill it you
> put a sheet-pan containing a couple of bricks on top of
> the bird to keep it flattened out for more even cooking.
> It was a 4.5-lb bird (smallest I could find in three
> different stores) instead of a 3-lb bird, but I just
> extended the time to 20-25 minutes per side and it cooked
> up perfect; 168F in the Breast and 185F in the thigh.
> It almost fell apart when I took it off. The only
> seasoning I did was I sprinkled the Emeril's Southwest
> blend on when it had about 10 minutes left.
>
> The funny part is this: I'd put a potholder on my
> grill's side shelf to hold the pan and the rock (a big
> river rock from the yard in lieu of two bricks) while
> I was flipping the chicken. Then I put the pan and
> the rock back on the bird. Then I decided, you know, I
> should oil this pan a little because it was kinda stuck
> to the chicken when I took it off the first time. So I
> got the oil from the kitchen and came back to remove the
> pan, and I looked at the shelf--and the potholder was
> gone! I looked on the ground and the table behind me,
> and then slapped my forehead and looked under the pan.
> The potholder was ON THE CHICKEN! D'oh! I lifted it off
> okay, and just didn't bother using the weighted pan for the
> second half of the cooking. It probably crisped the skin
> a little better by not having the pan protecting it;
> the bottom of the bird is flatter anyway and needs the
> weight less. Next time, I'll oil the pan from the outset.
> Despite that, the chicken was fantastic.
>
> Second detour: I was preheating the oven for the biscuits,
> and set it to 450 instead of 350, expecting to turn it
> down when I put them in. And of course I forgot to turn
> it down. They came out okay, if a little early and a
> little more browned than I'd planned. Sort of dutch-oven
> crispy on top. But not underdone inside, and just as
> tasty and flaky as desired.
>
> Here's the gravy recipe:
>
> heat up 8 oz of chicken stock (not to boiling; just so it isn't cold).
> get 1.5 tbs of oil hot in a pan.
> add 2 tbs cake flour to oil and whisk until bubbling begins to
subside.
> drizzle chicken stock into roux, whisking gently but
> thoroughly, and continue stirring until gravy begins
> to thicken.
> add salt and pepper
>
> For this next time I think I'll use a better quality of
> store-bought chicken stock. The Swanson brand was okay,
> and extra convenient as it has a soda-can type flip-top,
> but it wasn't spectacular.
>
> Italian dressing:
>
> whisk together 2 oz EVOO and 2 oz balsamic vinegar
> 1 tsp italian herbs (Emeril's Italian blend; there's nothing
> phony or goofy in Emeril's seasonings, so I have no trouble
> being a serial plugger for them)
> add salt and pepper
>
> This dressing is even better with rice-wine vinegar;
> it makes more of an aioli consistency. Something in
> the balsamic doesn't let that happen.
>
> As meals go, even with the snafus, this was killer.
> And snafus mean it can get even better.
>
> --Blair
> "Tomorrow: killer chicken salad."