Back to Butter: A Traditional Foods Cookbook - Nourishing Recipes Inspired by Our Ancestors (20 page)

from the pasture

There’s a good chance you remember this comfort food dish of the 1980s. My mom would make several batches at a time, in order to feed my hungry, basketball-playing brother and his teammates. Filled with processed foods at that time, we’ve since reinvented it with sprouted flour and a simple homemade gravy. Just like before, only better.

FOR CASSEROLE BASE:

5 cups (700 g) packed medium-diced precooked chicken (
page 32
)

4 tablespoons (56 g) butter

1
/
2
cup (80 g) finely diced yellow onion

6 tablespoons (45 g) fresh-milled, sprouted, whole wheat pastry flour (
page 55
)

2 cups (470 ml) homemade chicken stock (
page 82
)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1
/
2
teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

3
/
4
teaspoon poultry seasoning

1
/
2
cup (112 g) sour cream

FOR TOPPING:

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

1
1
/
2
cups (75 g) Sourdough Bread Crumbs (
page 188
)

1
/
2
cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon (11 g) poppy seeds

TO MAKE THE CASSEROLE BASE: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Spread the chicken in an ungreased 8 x 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) glass baking dish.

In a large-size sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter until foaming. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Sprinkle the flour over the onion. Whisk for 2 minutes, then slowly add the chicken stock, whisking to incorporate. Whisk in the sea salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium-high and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING: In a small-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Set aside. In a medium-size bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and poppy seeds. Toss well to combine. Drizzle the butter over the top of the bread crumb mixture. Toss well to combine.

Now that the gravy has cooled slightly, whisk in the sour cream. Pour over the chicken in the baking dish and gently fold to coat. Crumble the bread crumb topping evenly over top.

Bake for 30 minutes. It’s ready when the topping is light brown and the gravy is bubbling. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

YIELD: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Moist Oven Chicken

Mom came up with this dish by accident. She turned down the heat on her baked chicken in order to play Cornhole with the neighbors and came home to find moist, fall-off-the-bone chicken!

FOR CHICKEN:

2 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin on (1 breast, split)

2 bone-in chicken legs with thighs, skin on

3 tablespoons (45 ml) melted bacon fat (
page 33
), divided

2
1
/
2
teaspoons (15 g) sea salt, divided

1
1
/
2
teaspoons freshly cracked pepper, divided

4 cloves garlic, peeled

8 carrots (about 1 pound [454 g])

12 fingerling potatoes (1
1
/
2
to 2 pounds [680 to 908 g])

FOR GRAVY:

1
/
4
cup (60 ml) water

4 teaspoons arrowroot powder

1 cup (470 ml) homemade chicken stock (
page 82
)

Sea salt and pepper

TO MAKE THE CHICKEN: About 2
1
/
2
hours before dinner, preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3). Wash and thoroughly dry the chicken. Using a pastry brush and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the melted bacon fat, lightly oil the skin side of each piece of chicken. Evenly sprinkle this side with 1 teaspoon sea salt and
1
/
2
teaspoon pepper.

In a large-size oven-safe pan with an oven-safe lid (such as a Dutch oven), heat the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) bacon fat over medium-high heat until it glistens. Carefully lay the meat, skin-side down, into the pan. While the meat is browning, using the melted oil in the pan, oil the other side of the meat with the pastry brush and sprinkle evenly with 1 teaspoon sea salt and
1
/
2
teaspoon pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, until nicely browned, then use tongs to flip the chicken. Sauté the second side for an additional 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the whole garlic cloves to the pan, cover, and place in the preheated oven. Bake the chicken, covered, for 1 hour.

While the chicken is baking, scrub the carrots and cut large carrots in half crosswise. Prep the potatoes by scrubbing, removing any “eyes” or bad spots. Soak the carrots and potatoes in a large-size bowl of cold water while the chicken cooks.

When the chicken has baked for 1 hour, drain the vegetables and add to the pan with the chicken. Season the vegetables with the remaining
1
/
2
teaspoon sea salt and
1
/
2
teaspoon pepper. Cook for 1 hour longer.

After 1 hour, test the vegetables for fork tenderness. If they are tender, remove the pot from the oven. If they are not, return
the pot to the oven and cook in additional 15-minute increments until the vegetables are fork tender.

Place the cooked chicken and vegetables on a large-size, warmed serving bowl and re-cover with the lid from the sauté pan.

TO MAKE THE GRAVY: Scrape the bottom of the now-empty chicken pan and strain the juices into a small-size pot over high heat, pouring off any clear fat.

In a small-size glass jar with a lid, combine the water and arrowroot. Shake well and set aside.

Add the chicken stock to the pan juices. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium and slowly add the arrowroot mixture while constantly whisking. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until thickened. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the chicken warm with the gravy on the side.

YIELD: 4 SERVINGS

RECIPE NOTE

Arrowroot is an edible starch from the root of a plant. Similar to cornstarch, it can be added to water and stirred into liquids to create thickening. Whereas cornstarch is a common allergen, however, arrowroot has been known to actually calm the digestive tract.

Sticky Chicken

This dish was first named Maple Dijon Chicken, but you’ll see why it quickly became Sticky Chicken! Perfect for a cookout, football game, or casual dinner, it is delicious whether hot right from the oven or sliced cold and stuffed in a sourdough sandwich the next day. The sauce is rich and flavorful, and the meat is fall-off-the-bone moist. Kids love this meal.

1
/
2
cup (112 g) butter

1
/
2
cup (120 ml) maple syrup

1
/
2
cup (88 g) Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons curry powder

2
1
/
2
teaspoons (15 g) sea salt, divided

1
/
4
teaspoon cayenne

4 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin on (2 whole breasts, split)

1
/
2
teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Combine the butter, maple syrup, mustard, curry powder, 2 teaspoons (12 g) of the sea salt, and the cayenne in a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) glass baking dish. While the oven is preheating, place the dish in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the butter fully melts but does not brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and whisk the ingredients to combine. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then liberally dredge each piece of the chicken in the sauce. Gently slide your fingers between the skin and the flesh of the chicken, being careful not to tear the skin. Using a pastry brush, coat both the flesh and the skin thoroughly with sauce. Gently pull the skin back into place.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the pan, skin-side up. Sprinkle with the remaining
1
/
2
teaspoon sea salt and the pepper.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove and baste with the pastry brush using the pan sauces. Bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and preheat the broiler. Baste the chicken one final time, then broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until the chicken skin browns nicely. Be careful not to burn.

Cool for 10 minutes, then place on a serving platter. Whisk the pan juices and pour over the chicken. Serve!

YIELD: 4 SERVINGS

For more than forty years, our family has eaten a moist and unbelievably flavorful, oven-roasted turkey without the usual last-minute chaos. How? We roast our birds one or even two nights before—it makes Thanksgiving a breeze! Now, if your family prefers a bird cooked with stuffing, simply omit the celery, onion, and garlic, and substitute a favorite stuffing recipe. Note that you will need a large-size roasting pan, aluminum foil, parchment paper, a sterilized needle, and thread for this recipe.