Anne & Alton: Butterflied’n’Broiled Chicken with Masher Cakes
B&B Chicken (Brown 31) and Masher Cakes (Brown 19) made a delightful meal. I’d say that this is second favorite chicken dish.
Alton gives some really helpful details as to selecting a bird - really cute trivia bits that tickle the geek in me - but if it’s one thing I’d like to share is that it doesn’t make a literal lick of difference if the bird is grown free-range, organic or by conventional means - they all taste the same.
I usually don’t broil chicken mainly because it tends to dry out the bird, but setting the oven rack 8 inches from the broiler and butterflying the chicken made a difference. Another reason why I don’t broil is the smoke. I’m beginning to think that the kitchen fan isn’t strong enough or maybe the vent needs to be cleaned.
To get a nice gravy going with the chicken, I really do suggest using a gravy separator. It easily separates the good stuff from the fat. The meat ended up juicy and the skin crispy. There was even enough left over for a decent lunch the next day.
The Masher Cakes didn’t fair to well. It uses Masher leftovers (Brown 18) as a base, which is then mixed with egg and panko. You form cakes from the mix and fry them in a shallow pool of oil. I really should have measured out the left over mashers, because in my first go, they started breaking apart in the frying process. I think the key getting the right mix between masher and egg. Not enough egg means no binding for the cake. I had enough masher for a second try, and got the masher to egg mix right. Masher Cakes remind me of latkes that Sig made for me a while ago, just less grainy. For frying in general, it’s good to have a draining rig made of a baker’s cooling rack and half sheet pan lined with newspaper. The rack also cools the food while it drains the fat and you can compost the news paper afterwards.
Sig really liked the chicken and was so-so on the Mashers. He really enjoyed having the leftovers for lunch the next day. I liked the chicken myself, but wanted a crisper skin. I think the mashers needed a bit more improvement.
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Brown, Alton. Good Eats: The Early Years. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2009.