Roast chicken

Having just fed four people, I thought I'd share my thoughts on roast chicken. No doubt everyone has their own way of roasting chicken, so here's mine. The worst thing about a roast chicken is dry, bland breast meat (although I don't usually eat chicken breast anyway), so you have to stuff the thing with something to prevent it from drying. Get your preferred choice of chicken (free-range, corn-fed, or whatever works for you). Wash and pat dry. Stuff with: wedges of lemon, small onion, crushed garlic cloves, your choice of herb (mint or thyme work well), butter. Rub olive oil and salt all over skin.

I served roast potatoes with the chicken. Wash and peel the potatoes, and cut into bite-size chunks. Parboil for 5 minutes, drain and shake in the pan to fluff them up. Spread over the bottom of a deep roasting tin lined with aluminium foil. Halve two small onions, and cut each half into quarters. Crush some garlic cloves. Spread evenly among the potato chunks. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and cumin seeds. Place the rack on the roasting tin and set the chicken on top, breast side up. Cook in a pre-heated at 190C (about 75 mins. for a medium-sized chicken). You shouldn't need to baste it, and the fat and juices will be soaked up by the potatoes, giving them extra flavour.

Et voilà:

Too many calories, not enough mics...

There are days when you have to be thankful that the average American obtains 35% of their caloric intake from sweets, desserts, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and red meat. Today was one of those days. If you have one of those days and happen to be on the Upper East Side, go to Gracie Mews restaurant (1550 1st Avenue, between 80th and 81st Streets). It's a modern, friendly diner that attracts a mix of young families, the more senior crowd, and younger groupies. It has a huge menu to leave you spoilt for choice and make you want to keep coming back, with classic diner staples, as well as pan-fried salmon, roast chicken, pasta and more fancy steaks and lobster.

But sometimes all you want is a cheeseburger deluxe with Swiss cheese, fries and coleslaw, a chocolate milkshake, a slice of New York cheesecake, and a coronary by-pass.....



And trust me, you won't regret it....

China China, where art thou , oh China?

aka 烧肉贩

I was devastated to learn that China China, my vote for the best Chinese restaurant in London's Chinatown, closed down recently for reasons that will probably never be known. Situated in a prime location on the corner of Gerrard Place, roast duck, chicken and pork alluringly hanging on the restaurant front, China China served classic Cantonese food for years, and had the best crispy pork and rice in town. Gone are the days when I could pass by after work for a take out portion of crispy pork, or drop in for duck and preserved vegetables with crispy noodles, pi-pa tofu, or prawn dumplings.

I am now forced to undertake an exhaustive research of all the restaurants in Chinatown, to find a suitable replacement for my crispy pork cravings....... I will report back. In the meantime, I have no choice but to make my own...