As I recall, this is a Romanian recipe. My family has been making it for at least thirty years so here’s my spin on it. Oh, my brother, a great cook, asked me why it’s “lazy.” There are few ingredients and they’re all cooked together for amazing results! He must have been in college at the time and couldn’t afford both carrots and onions.
Let’s say you want to serve four, or two with lots of leftovers. Take four half chicken breasts on the bone, with skin. A bunch of carrots, scrubbed. One or two onions, cut into eight wedges each. Place tightly in a roasting pan, with onions and carrots sticking up. Dot with butter. Salt, pepper and thyme, whole branches if you grow it. A splash of chicken broth, another of dry white wine and place in a 450 degree oven for about an hour until everything smells fantastic and is browned and delicious. Check on it halfway and add more liquid if it’s dry. You want it to roast, not steam.
That’s it. One of the banes of my existence is timing. In my Thanksgiving cooking lesson, I taught my students to work back from dinner time. If dinner is at seven, the garlic mashed potatoes go on the fire at 6:30. The roast chicken is at 20 minutes per pound unstuffed and weighs X and needs an extra fifteen minutes to rest. If it’s simple I just do it by rote, if a dinner party I usually jot it down just to make sure I have hors d’oeuvres and other items out.
As you prepare for the holidays, please remember yourself. Don’t choose a meal that enslaves you to the kitchen with lots of last-minute fuss. This time is what roasts are for. Place some potatoes around that prime rib! Add carrots, rutabagas, whatever tickles your fancy. Place the roast out to rest and listen to the oohs and aahs. An open kitchen is what you want, with stools on the opposite side so you can talk with your guests and yet keep them out of your way.
Stick with me, kiddos. I’ll have you shopping the perimeter of the grocery store in the blink of an eye! Dee
Cooking with Dee 