In search of the simple dinner party
My go-to company dinner is roast chicken. Everyone (except vegetarians) likes it, there are very few ingredients needed and there are no complicated 24-hours-in-advance steps.
Bittman has a great recipe, and so much faster than most. I was forever inviting people over, then serving them dinner an hour later than I intended. Not so with the Bittman technique.
Preheat the oven to 500. Rinse the chicken, and put it in your roasting pan. (Mine has a rack. You don’t really need it.) Put the chicken in the oven, breast side down, for 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 425, and drizzle olive oil on the chicken. Then flip it, drizzle some more olive oil, salt and pepper the skin, and put it back in the oven for another 40 minutes, or until your thermometer 165°F.
It’s an easy recipe to modify, too. Chop up some fresh herbs, and add that with the salt and pepper. Squeeze a lemon on it (or in the cavity.) Add some garlic or onions to the cavity. Use a different liquid, and add stuff to that. Add spices to just about any of the above. And the beauty of nearly every variation is, they add no time.
Add some roasted root vegetables to the pan. I like potatoes, garlic and onions, but I’ve done sweet potatoes, turnips and carrots, too. Or just stick with a classic, and do some mashed potatoes. Or (horrors!) a salad. Since you don’t have to mind the chicken, you can do almost any side, and you’ve got a whole dinner in just over an hour.
What’s your favorite recipe for guests? Meng was always a fan of steak; it’s certainly faster than roast chicken. But I set off my fire alarm about half the time when I make steak, which can put a damper on a gathering.
