Month: January 2006

CULINARY: My eleventh night at Pigall's

CULINARY: My eleventh night at Pigall's

  On Saturday, January 7, 2006, I worked at Pigall’s for my eleventh night. I arrived around 1:00pm, washed up, and quickly got to work. Robbie had me cutting up wild boar and duck meat on the slicer (which I first had to clean and…

DINNER 7: Saturday, January 7, 2006

DINNER 7: Saturday, January 7, 2006

Tonight, a group of us (Holly, Ed, Colin, Wendy, Jay, and myself) met at ONE DINING, a new restaurant situated in a converted city building in Mason Ohio, for a surprise birthday dinner for Angel (who turns the big 3-0 on January 8th). Ed, Holly,…

DINNER 8: Sunday, January 8, 2006

DINNER 8: Sunday, January 8, 2006

Tonight, we went to Tracy’s house to watch the disappointing Bengal‘s game with a group of friends. Since Tracy was still reeling from the swanky New Year’s party she threw, she asked folks to bring some food to share.

Wendy & I brought my mom’s famous (it’s famous around my house) beef barbeque (recipe below) served on buns with cole slaw. I had one of those for dinner, no slaw, with some potato chips alongside.

Continue reading DINNER 8: Sunday, January 8, 2006

DINNER 9: Monday, January 9, 2006

DINNER 9: Monday, January 9, 2006

What a humble meal this evening… It’s our GUILD WARS night, so Wendy stopped for grub from Wendy’s on her way home. Dinner was a cheeseburger, a bacon-and-cheddar baked potato (nevermind that I asked her to get me a broccoli and cheddar baked potato!) and…

DINNER 10: Tuesday, January 10, 2006

DINNER 10: Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Tonight’s dinner was the second night of the ‘upswing in dining scale‘ that we’re experiencing this week, which will peak on Saturday night. How’s that for a stay-tuned-style teaser?! This evening, on a whim we called our friends Dave & Robin and the four of us…

DINNER 11: Wednesday, January 11, 2006

DINNER 11: Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Our week of dining is shaping up… From humble beginnings earlier in the week, we’ve progressed to tonight’s nice, homey, dinner. 

This evening, I made a simple roasted chicken and vegetables. Wendy made a green salad. The chicken skin was wonderfully crispy from the dry, high heat.

Roast Chicken

Here’s how I did it, using a 2.5-3 pound chicken (plenty for two people):

  • Heat oven to 450.
  • Rinse chicken inside and out with cold water.
  • Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper inside the cavity of the chicken. 
  • Truss the chicken.
  • Dry the outside of the chicken very well.
  • Sprinkle the outside of the bird with black pepper and kosher salt. Be generous with the salt.
  • Put it on a rack in the preheated oven, breast side up.
  • Roast until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken’s thigh registers 160 degrees, 50-60 minutes.
  • Remove chicken from the oven.
  • Stir a tablespoon or two of chopped fresh thyme into the accumulated pan juices.
  • Baste the crispy skin with the pan juices.
  • Remove the chicken to a plate and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Note: If the oven starts smoking like crazy, it’s probably because juices are coming out of the chicken and burning in the roasting pan. A small amount of water (or chicken stock) in the bottom of the pan will stop this, but the chicken skin will not be as crispy.

While the chicken rests, throw some roughly chopped pieces of your favorite vegetables (onions, carrots, turnips, and some mushrooms are good choices) into the roasting pan, toss with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast in the oven. When the chicken is done resting, the veggies are done roasting.

Eat the chicken with mustard, bread, and some butter. And for heaven’s sake, eat the skin. Delicious!

DINNER 12: Thursday, January 12, 2006

DINNER 12: Thursday, January 12, 2006

This evening, our trip up the ‘culinary ladder‘ continued as Wendy & I were guests at the first-ever (hopefully first annual) College of Pharmacy Etiquette Dinner hosted at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. A faculty member and I assisted one of our students in organizing…