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Miquette -

The Zuni Chicken is absolutely fantastic - it was my choice for a special Xmas dinner, a firm favourite always.  It's a little time consuming, but not difficult and well worth the effort.  I'll be interested to learn how you feel about it, so please post about your experience.

Foodelf -

Will do! Chicken is seasoned and in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner. Regarding the chicken b'stilla, I also had been thinking about making that recipe. But based on your comments, I will try this Moorish chicken and nut pie version from The New Spanish Table instead. I think the filling looks more interesting with the addition of raisins and pine nuts and according to the author, it is not as time consuming. Also thanks for adding the link to the tarte nougat pommes. I have added it to my "to make" list.

Hi, Miquette -

I really like the sound of the Moorish Chicken better than the version I tried.  I may have to add this one to my ever-expanding list.

I hope you try the Tarte Nougat Pommes - I'm wondering how it would work w/pears as I have some that need to be used up.  I'm considering Tarte Alsacienne from Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, which I noticed when choosing my Poulet Basquaise for this week's cookbook project.  I would subsititute the apples with my lovely pears.

But I've also had my eye on this Three Pear Cake from Patricia Wells' The Provence Cookbook.

Hi Foodelf,

The three pear cake sounds yummy. My favorite pear dessert is Martha Stewart's Pear Frangipane Tart as I have a weakness for fruit-nut combinations. Okay, and all things chocolate too!

I'd roasted a bunch of bigger-than-usual beets at the same time as I did a chicken last week, so I went looking for roasted beet recipes.  I'd gotten Puy lentils in the fall (had never cooked them before) and had one preserved lemon left in the batch I made in late 2011, so Deborah Madison's Green lentils with roasted beets and preserved lemon from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone was the perfect solution. 

The recipe calls for cutting raw beets into small cubes and roasting those, but it worked fine just to cube up some of my already roasted beets and warm them in the microwave near the end of the lentil cooking time.  It was easy and outstanding, and the refrigerated leftovers were delicious the next day (I left it out awhile to take the chill off before serving).

I'll be making other Puy/green lentil salads over the next month, now that I see how easy and satisfying they are -- next with hazelnuts, roasted butternut squash, and goat cheese.  Can't remember if that's an EYB recipe or not, will link if I find it.

Ellabee - I adore beets and I certainly admire your forethought to roast them along with your chicken.  I'm delighted that your experiment was such a success.  I'm about to go and check out the recipe you linked!

Those lentils are a pantry gotta-have!

I was pretty impressed with myself, too! <g>  It bothers me to have the oven on for an hour or more just for beets, or any one thing.  When I roast chicken I often do garlic, because it fits nicely into that first 40 minutes when the foil shield is over the chicken breast. 

A poster at chowhound introduced me to the idea of doing caramelized onions in the oven, in a (very under-used) roasting pan -- 350F for two hours, stir every half hour.  My oven's only 24 inches, so I have a smallish roaster, 11" x 14", and I do a three-pound bag's worth at once.  Cut onions lengthwise (lyonnais), mixed with a generous tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt (important for getting the juices going to avoid burning), and spread out as evenly and flat as possible; any slices sticking up into the air are likely to burn. 

That long oven session is worth it for the time it saves in putting together soups and gratins in the weeks following, but because it's so long I've also tried to fit in other roasting at the same time.  What's worked best so far is winter squash, halved lengthwise with whole unpeeled cloves of garlic in the cavity.  You can prep the squash and garlic during the first half-hour of onion roasting, then stick it in when you do the first stirring of the onions.  At 350, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to soften completely, and you end up with an ingredient that makes excellent soup or souffle.

Okay, so made the Zuni Roast Chicken tonight and it turned out great! Oooh, the crispy skin! In this respect, I liked this version better than the Bouchon Simple Roast Chicken as the skin was definitely crispier. However, I like the flavor of the meat better after brining witht the Bouchon method. We also loved the bread salad, next time I would toast the bread a little more to get a better ratio of crunchy to soft bits. All in all, will definitely make again!

Next up is the Caramelized Fennel with Goat's Curd from Plenty. 

@adrienneyoung, thanks for the recommendation for the shashuka, I'll add it to the list.

Oh, Miquette - I'm so envious of the bread salad element of the Zuni Chicken!  I'm glad you liked it, and of course there's something so celebratory about this chicken. 

I'll be looking for your post on the fennel dish - sounds very intriguing.  I don't have this book, so I'm interested in your impressions.

My Poulet Basquaise has progressed beautifully.  The medley of colours and the fragrance of those peppers and onions as they sauteed was fantastic.  I used yellow, red and orange peppers completely ignoring the green ones in the ingredients list (I don't care for green peppers).  Neither could I find the Piment d'Espelette and used a combination of smoked paprika with a little cayenne.  The prep is easy and at various stages during sautéing and reducing, I was able to accomplish cleaning up dishes, and ingredient bowls, rinsing and slipping them into the dishwasher.  I even had time to properly wash the knives! 

I didn't get a whole chicken.  Instead, I purchased 5 free-range chicken legs and portioned them into thighs and drumsticks.  I'm doing this on a work-week-night, so I didn't want to have to spend the time breaking down a whole chicken - plus I far prefer dark meat.  The braising part of the dish took longer than the recipe indicated, but I had the heat down very low, so that was no big surprise.

I wonder why when browning the chicken, the instructions were to brown only on the skin side ...

My freshly laundered yellow sweatshirt is splashed with tomato and Basquaise sauce stains - why don't I ever think about protecting my clothes when cooking?

My choice, by-the-way, for the pear dessert was Marcella Hazan's Farm Wife's Fresh Pear Tart - something I've made before, but not recently.  Couldn't be easier and it's always a hit, as it was today when I took it into the office - something of a stampede.

I'll post later (probably tomorrow) on my taste/flavour impressions of the Poulet Basquaise.

What a great idea!  I too would like to try doing this so that I can cook from my books more.

It will be a pleasure to read about everyone's expriences.  I am also looking forward to choosing my first book to cook from tonight; I am thinking it will be either "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals" or "Whole Grains for a New Generation".

I made the Caramelized Fennel with Goat's Curd tonight from Plenty and it was phenomenal! Served it with pork tenderloin which was a perfect match. I used two bulbs of fennel for the two of us and next time I would make more as we were both sad that there were no seconds.  Definitely recommend a baguette to mop up the last of the lovely caramelized sauce!

This is such a beautiful cookbook and I can't wait to make more things. Maybe the Caramelized Garlic Tart or the Very Full Tart next time around!

Wow, Miquette - that fennel sounds wonderful, although I can't stand goat's cheese of any sort - can you recommend a substitution for the Goat's Curd?

My Poulet was delicious.  I enjoyed it last night and took some with me for lunch today and it was even better.  The flavours had a chance to meld and there was a hint of heat.  I would certainly be more generous with the seasoning next time and will continue to try to track down the Piment d'Espelette.  I might add a touch of garlic next time, too.  This was a success and very easy - I'll definitely add it to my chicken repetoire.

I don't know what my next choice will be but I've selected The Provence Cookbook by Patricia Wells, I've had this book for a long time and to my shame, never prepared anything from it.  I've made many dishes from At Home in Provence, so I'm sure I'll find something interesting.

Hi, ccav - we're looking forward to reading your posts.  Have fun making your selection!

Foodelf - Piment d'Espelette can be obtained online from Amazon and others.

To all - I too think the roasting time for whole beets is excessive (so much oven, so much wattage, such small items in there!), so I've been cutting them into smaller pieces, tossing with oil and salt, and roasting them on a flat pan like I do for any number of other vegetables. I have been very satisifed with this method. I also make a beet side dish by slicing them quite thinly and roasting with oil and salt; this makes a kind of chewy beet chip that is really pretty awesome. (Though I have to say that method has failed a couple of times and I've ended up with burnt beet crisps, not pleasant at all. I'm not sure if it was because of a different quality or type of beet, or having the oven too hot and the beets sliced too thin... I'll still do it again. It hardly takes any time at all, and it is a quick way to make a beet dish for the only beet-lover in the household!)

I'm struggled to come up with a recipe I'd like to make from The Provence Cookbook.  I've gone through the book several times and nothing really jumps out.  So - nothing to report at this stage.

I'll take another look tomorrow and if I feel the same, I'll just pick another book.

I picked up a few new books this week in a "closing down sale".. so this week's efforts are coming from David Bransgroves "Bistro"... (unfortunately not yet indexed!). Along with the books I found some great peaches, so tonight is Magret de canard aux peches.. smells devine! Shall let you know how it turns out!

Vanessa, the Deborah Madison recipe does call for your method of cubing and roasting, which I bet would result in more caramelization.  I'd been reluctant because of the potential bleeding during prep and roasting -- though there's a certain amount of bleeding when cubing the roasted whole beets for the dish, burned-on beet sugar on the baking sheet seemed like a problem to avoid.  OTOH, it might not be any worse than sweet potato residue, which cleans off easily after a soak.

Made the roasted sweet potato wedges I mentioned early in the thread, and they're an outstanding complement to Thai yellow curry, a contrast of color, texture, and taste.  My experience with Ottolenghi recipes continues to hold: just as good if not better with less oil and salt than he calls for.

Update on the polenta squares: haven't yet experimented with my jalapeno onion jam idea, because I used up the polenta pieces pairing them with rajas con crema, strips of roasted & peeled poblano peppers cooked with onions and garlic and creme fraiche (recipe from Quick-fried fish with roasted peppers and thick cream in Rick Bayless' Authentic Mexican).  Crumbled cheese over the polenta, broiled them until cheese melted and slightly browned, topped with the peppers in crema. Sooooo good, and the S.O. was even more enthusiastic than he'd been about the polenta with roasted eggplant & tomato sauce.

This is particularly good news given how well polenta freezes, so it's going to become a regular part of my make-components-ahead sessions.

debkellie - Your Magret de canard aux peches sounds wonderful.  Were you pleased with the results?

ellabee - Your adventures w/polenta are tempting me and I'm intrigued by the sweet potato wedges to accompany your Thai Yellow Curry.

I'm late with this week's selection and have picked a different book Antipasti - the little dishes of Italy by Julia Della Croce.  My recipe choice is Involtini di Zuchine, which is Zucchini Rolls stuffed with Ricotta served with a light tomato sauce (sounds so much better in Italian).  It's officially spring and I'd like something colourful, tasty and inspiring.  The online recipe is available here. 

I plan on making the sauce in advance and will probably prepare the filling a couple of hours earlier, too.  The recipe calls for baking the slices of zucchini, but I'm considering popping them in the grill pan so they'll be nicely marked.

After several days of recipe-indecision, I'm happily looking forward to this.