TARRAGON CHICKEN
Reheating time: 10-15 minutes- preheat oven to 425F
We can’t wait for spring! It seems so close. Both yesterday and today showed some real promise of bright blue skies. Even the birds were chirping outside my window. Forgot how annoying those guys can be at 5AM every morning… On the topic of birds, let’s talk about a bird that definitely makes us happy. The chicken bird. Evolutionarily, it doesn’t make much sense. How did this weird reptile dinosaur thing make it so far? I’m going to skip that question, because frankly I don’t care. They are here now, and they are delicious. For tonight’s dinner, we bathed these birdies in tarragon infused buttermilk brine and roasted them with meyer lemons and more herbs. Finally, they were doused with a chervil and tarragon butter for optimum roasty richness in your kitchen. With these birds we have some green romesco- I’ve wanted to do this for a while now: tomatillos instead of tomatoes, pistachios and pepitas instead of almonds, and fennel in the place of onion. Smoky, nutty, fresh, this stuff is the real deal. Wild rice with celery root and cranberries, and blistered green beans with sundried tomatoes and preserved lemon… These chickens would be honored to appear next to such an amazing cast. Get in there!
For the chicken breasts:
On a sheet tray lined with aluminum foil, arrange the chicken breasts skin side up- leaving some space on the tray for the beans. We’re going to warm the chicken up for a bit first, then pop the beans right on the same tray. Easy peasy. Pop the birds in the oven (not the beans yet!) for 5-7 minutes at 425F, or until the skin begins to glisten and render. Pull out the tray, and lay the beans out in a flat layer next to the chicken. Put the tray back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes. Check it out- everything should be nice and hot by now. If not, I’m sorry that I don’t know how slow your oven is to heat things up- just leave them in for a bit longer. I like the broiler if you’re in a hurry- direct heat is always faster. Just don’t burn it! Once everything is hot, rest the chicken for a minute before slicing, and plate up the beans and sliced breasts on top of a fat smear of romesco. Yum.
For the wild rice:
The intention with this component was for it to be enjoyed as a salad or cold grain side- so just mix it up and plate it up. Alternatively you could heat it up- best way to do that would be in a saute pan. Heat a large nonstick pan over high heat, drizzle some olive oil in there, and scoop the rice in. Give it a toss to coat the rice, and let the rice fry so the herbs bloom and it gets nice and toasted. Once it’s hot, kill the heat and scoop that hot rice right onto your plate. Not a terrible idea to mix some of that romesco in here either. Not a bad idea to eat the romesco all by itself, now that I mention it. That stuff is delicious.
That’s it!
Plate it up nice, snap a pic, and share with us on social media 🙂
Dinner is served, and solved. #weareweco
If you got a kid’s dinner:
Been getting a lot of questions about these- I always figured you guys would just microwave them- just make sure to take off the plastic lid, and remove any cold components before microwaving. Take the ramekin out! Enjoy!
SESAME NOODLE BOWL
Thanks for ordering!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODS. The most important food group. Or should I say noooooood group. No I shouldn’t say that. Shut up Gavin. This sh*t is SERIOUS! NO MESSING AROUND! For real though, let’s talk flavor. Because this bowl is full of it. We got nutty sesame, fresh crunchy peas, a whole boatload of herbs, pickled ginger, crunchy furikake (and yes, this furikake is fish and gluten free- we made it ourselves- you’re welcome!)… So many things happening here. And it’s all wrapped up like a present with the yuzu + roasted sesame vinaigrette. That vinaigrette is honestly my favorite thing to make these days. If we ever have any left over, I take it home and just dip carrots in it as a snack. Want the recipe? We’ve been feeling very generous lately with our secrets- for a limited time only, I have been divulging the ancient WECO tactics of flavor development and sneaky deliciousness. Just hit me up in the email, and maybe I will unleash the sesame dressing knowledge upon you. That sounds really intense. Basically, I’m feeling like sharing. Because sharing is caring. So reach out. To prepare this badass bowl, just pour the yuzu magic all over everything and dive in. I love cold noodles. If you don’t love cold noodles, pull some of the herbs and pickled ginger off, and nuke it for a minute or two. Or nuke the whole thing. You’re the boss. I have absolutely no say in what you do to your dinner once it’s in your kitchen. I can only advise. So the choice is yours folks. Enjoy 🙂
