Salt Baked Chicken

This is one of my favorite recipes. My mom taught me how to make salt baked chicken, but I tweaked the recipe. Its very simple so try it at home.

1) Take a large chicken and rinse with cold water (important)
2) Let the water drain and pat dry with paper towels, dry the cavity too.
3) Take a lot of sea salt and pat it all around the chicken and in the cavity. Kosher salt is good too.
4) Then, take white pepper and pat around the chicken.
5) Stuff the chicken cavity with green onions, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, and garlic. Feel free to put it in a cheese cloth and tie up. Some people like to wet the peppercorns/anise so more moisture evaporates and gives flavor, but not necessary. You just want the herbs for the "nose". This is an important strategy in cooking.



A lot of cooks think that you need every flavor to jump out. I disagree. I think a hint or nose or just a dash of something adds a depth/complexity without altering the original flavor. I'm very big on this. I like the traditional flavor of things. My mom used to never stuff the cavity, I did it just to give the chicken a different aroma and slight flavor tweak. If you over do it, its not salt baked chicken anymore. Its like some funky asian thanksgiving chicken. The beauty of this dish is the simplicity of the white pepper and salt making a crisp chicken skin.

6) Preheat oven to 375, put chicken in and cook for about an hour. I never time or check temp cause I'm lazy. You don't want plump chicken. Let it get a tad dry, the salt will dry out the skin and the meat will get juicy wet and falling off the bone.

Brooklyn?

I live in BK and I wouldn't move, but what about a restaurant on the edge of Bedstuy and Clinton Hill? Specifically Bedford Ave and Lexington Ave? Not to give everything away, but it'd be a down home southern food type restaurant. Ideas?

The above photo is an image of the previous restaurant, which was a pizza/coffee shop. The neighborhood isn't exactly the ideal spot for artisan pizza/coffee, but maybe a good neighborhood southern food restaurant.

S'mores

Yeaaaaa its that time of year for S'mores already. The weather sucks here in NY. Couldn't go out Friday or Saturday so my fat ass sat home with stovetop s'mores.

Short Rib Soup!

So, one of our readers, Mrs. RCA asked for Short Rib and here it is. I actually made some okra and short rib curry last week but forgot to take photos! And, here's our first recipe. This is my version of Kalbi Tang. Usually, restaurants and some home cooks will use MSG or Powdered Beef Stock (Sogogi Dashida). It does add flavor and a slightly enhanced soup, but MSG gives me headaches, makes me dehydrated, and food coma'd. Some people aren't affected by MSG so its up to you.

Here's my recipe, I'm sure you can find others online, but I like it this way. (FYI, I don't measure, so just estimate to taste)

Pimpin' AND Cookin' Aint Easy!

We all knew Pimpin wasn't easy, but cooking? Come on! So many people do it and make money, this shit gotta be cake right? NOOOOOOOOO

This is what has happened the last two weeks.

Homemade Doughnuts!

So, decided to make some homemade doughnuts! Turned my "beirut table" into a pastry table and started making doughnuts.



Was pretty fun. The first batch was a little dense and the gluten was long so the second batch more shortening, more baking powder, let it rise a little more and it was really on point. The key is also to have really hot oil.



About 375 so that the doughnuts cook well. If the oil is not hot enough, they cook slow, dough gets tight, and it rises too much in the cooking.

Overall, after 3 tries, DOPE doughnuts. Will be making more variations soon!

Roast Beef.... FAIL! lol

Roast beef!!!! So, I made a sick roast beef. BUT, unbeknowst to me, whoever gave me this shitty house warming present (it was a set of oven roasting pans0 obviously bought it at the $1 store cause the roasting pan decided to go all PLO suicide bomber on me and explode. There is my giant roast beef sitting on one piece of roasting pan. SWEET.

Either way, it was the bomb. Ate it for 2 days. One day with gravy, lunch with cheez whiz, dinner with horseradish, it was awesome. I also made a yorkshire pudding! Here is a photo when it puffed up. After 5 minutes, it calmed down and was real tasty.