'Engagement Chicken' just one magic recipe in Glamour magazine cookbook
BY NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
3/30/11 at 4:14 AM
It's called Engagement Chicken for a reason.
The story goes that a Glamour magazine editor jotted down the recipe for one of the magazine's assistants who then made it for her boyfriend.
"Her boyfriend loved it. He had seconds. He licked his fingers. And shortly thereafter, he proposed."
That's how the book "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know" begins. Since the recipe was published in Glamour in 2004, editors have heard from more than 60 women who say it's true - it was the chicken that brought them their diamond rings and walks down the aisle.
It may sound old-fashioned for a modern woman to hope that a chicken recipe would bring her a proposal. But Glamour magazine editor Cindi Leive points out that cooking for a boyfriend brings "the kind of flurry of domesticity that even the most modern young woman can experience."
The chicken has become the recipe of legends, but it's not the only one worthy of a proposal, or at least a kiss on the cheek. Many others can be found in the new book "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know."
"Engagement Chicken is a magical recipe, but every woman should have that kind of magic at her fingertips, and this cookbook delivers that," Leive said.
"100 Recipes" was written with the Glamour audience in mind and includes recipes easy enough for inexperienced cooks and for busy young women who need recipes to linger over for weekend cooking as well as fast-fix recipes for weeknight dinners.
As for the chicken, it was adapted from a recipe from Marcella Hazan and is inspired by the idea of doing as little as possible to the food.
The chicken recipe includes tips that simply make good cooking sense, including: piercing the lemons before stuffing into the chicken, covering the chicken with lemon juice and using it as an adherent before topping with salt and pepper, and flipping the chicken so that the breast meat doesn't get dry.
Recipes
ENGAGEMENT CHICKEN
Serves 2 to 4
1 whole chicken (approximately 4 pounds)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 3 whole lemons - including 1 sliced for garnish
1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Fresh herbs for garnish (4 rosemary sprigs, 4 sage sprigs, 8 thyme sprigs and 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley)
1. Position an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the giblets from the chicken, wash the chicken inside and out with cold water, then let the chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander for 2 minutes.
2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place the chicken breast-side down in a medium roasting pan fitted with a rack, and pour the lemon juice all over the chicken, both inside and out. Season the chicken all over, inside and out, with salt and pepper.
3. Prick 2 whole lemons three times each in three different places with a fork, and place them deep inside the cavity. Chicken cavity size may vary, so if one lemon is partly sticking out, that's fine. (Tip: If the lemons are stiff, roll them on the countertop with your palm before pricking to get the juices flowing.)
4. Put the chicken in the oven, lower the temperature to 350 degrees, and roast, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Using tongs or two wooden spoons, turn the chicken breast side-up. Insert a meat thermometer in the thigh, and return the chicken to the oven and roast for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 180 degrees and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a fork. Continue roasting if necessary. Keep in mind that cooking time in different ovens vary; roasting a chicken at 350 degrees takes approximately 18 to 20 minutes per pound, plus an additional 15 minutes.
6. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. And here's the secret: Pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the sliced chicken - this is the "marry me juice." Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices.
Here's another good one, from Gourmet magazine editor Cindi Leive.
GET HIM TO CLEAN THE APARTMENT BURGERS
Makes 2 large burgers or 4 smaller burgers
1 pound ground beef (80-to-20 meat-to-fat ratio)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 to 4 pats ( 1/2 tablespoon each) butter
2 to 4 thin square slices cheddar or Swiss cheese
2 to 4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
1. In a large bowl, using your hands, gently mix the meat with a generous pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper, the cumin, shallot and Worcestershire sauce, making sure not to take so long that you begin to warm the meat.
2. Divide into 2 balls (or 4 smaller balls) and flatten into patties.
3. With your thumbs, create a depression in the top and add a pat of butter to each patty. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the broiler or grill. If using the broiler, put the patties on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and broil for about 7 minutes, until they are browned on one side. Flip and cook for about 4 minutes longer, depending on how well done you like them. If using the grill, add the patties to the grill rack and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until charred, about 7 minutes. If making cheeseburgers, add the cheese during the last few minutes of cooking.
5. Place the burgers on the buns and add your favorite toppings. Close the burgers and serve.
Original Print Headline: Cookbook for modern women works magic
Natalie Mikles 918-581-8486
natalie.mikles@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
A Glamour editor fed her boyfriend this chicken, and soon they were engaged. Now Engagement Chicken is immortalized in "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know." JONNY VALIANT / Courtesy
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