The Bird

I eat a lot of chicken. I don't eat red meat or pork, so I get more than my fair share of the bird. When I feel like impressing myself, I roast a whole chicken the old fashioned way. Let's get to it.
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Start with a brine: salt, sugar, peppercorns, lemon, garlic and rosemary.

I also add aromatics to the roasting pan. (I always toy with the idea of gravy.)

After you're done brining. Pat the chicken dry. Rub it with oil and add aromatics to the cavity.


Here is where the Southern black woman in me departs squarely from the Food Network personalities I love. Season and I mean really season the outside of the bird. Fresh herbs are of no use here; they'll burn. Dried is the way to go. Use plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a slight sprinkling of kosher salt.

Roast breast side down for about 30 minutes. Flip the bird to roast breast side up and continue roasting until done. The juices will run clear.

Tools of the trade:

• All-Clad Roasting Pan

Food & Friends

My favorite saying at work is, "I work with fools." We are a nutty group and we work hard and laugh loudly. I've made some really good friends. One of which is my former boss who never never misses an opportunity for a free meal.

The conversation usually starts with, "Whatcha cookin' tonight?" ... Okay, I'll be there at 7." So she and another co-worker were coming over on a Monday when I didn't get home until 5:30. The menu was a mix of favorites:

• roast chicken
• roasted veggies
• fried corn

I combined two chicken recipes, Giada De Laurentiis' garlic and citrus chicken and Cook's Illustrated's high roast chicken. Yum-yum. Unfortunately, I didn't get to make the pan sauce in the citrus-chicken recipe, but it was still good.

The roasted veggies were the usual, baby carrots, onion, potato and fennel with fresh rosemary. I really do love my vegetables! The fried corn was good too.

The best part of the meal was getting to share it with friends during my favorite time of year (even though it's still in the 80s!)