September 15 – September 21, 2025

Monday:                              Mushroom Toast with Leftover Sunday Gravy

Tuesday:                              Acorn Squash Soup with Parmesan Toasts

Wednesday:                      Pasta Primavera

Friday:                                  Tortelloni en Brodo with Parmesan Toast

Sunday:                               Roasted Chicken with Vinegared Grapes

How to Cook a Dinosaur

We find ourselves coming back to chicken dinner on Sundays again and again and again.* There is little more satisfying than the smell of chicken roasting in the oven.  So please consider this not so much as a repetition of the past, but as an ongoing homage to the chicken.

Speaking of which, did you know that chickens are in fact, directly, genetically related to dinosaurs?  They are not ‘descended’ from dinosaurs but are, in fact, a continuation of a group of dinosaurs known as therapods.  According to scientists, you can actually see traces of the prodigious hunting skill of ancient therapods if you watch a chicken chase down and eat an insect or a worm.  And according to paleontologists (how they know this is beyond me), when chickens run, they are mirroring the running of ancient dinosaurs.  If you’ve seen a chicken run, you will know that it’s a bit comic.  So, logically, you could say that any human hunted down by a T-Rex might have died laughing.  The problem with that sentence being that the large dinosaurs – those capable of eating large mammals like us – died out about 66 million years ago and the earliest hominids arose maybe 5 million years ago.  [This is long before homo sapiens – think a sort of diminutive, skinny gorilla.]

So, what does this have to do with our chicken dinner from two Sundays ago?  Not so much, but I thought you might find it interesting.  Also, any of you who got angry at the T-Rex or velociraptors who ate people and terrorized the children in the Jurassic Park movies might take a Trump-like revenge by feasting on their cousin – the domestic chicken.

It is, of course, idle to speculate what a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have tasted like when salted and left in the refrigerator overnight and then roasted with herbs, potatoes and onions until crispy and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part read 165 F, but still, think of how much chicken salad you could have made from one of those monsters.

I’m drifting again.  After that brief digression on dinosaurs, let me introduce you to the wonderful cook, Melissa Clark, if you don’t already know her.  Melissa writes a food column for the New York Times and has written 40 cookbooks.  Not one to rest on her laurels, you might say.  I’d give her a call and ask if you might drop by to get a few tips on cooking.  But for those who are too shy, you’ll find a recipe of hers below which will help you to cook a dinosaur, that is to say a chicken, with grapes and onions and to make a sauce that will satisfy the homo sapiens roaming around your house looking for food.  This sauce of cooked grapes and onions with a tinge of vinegar was a revelation to me – my new favorite way to roast chicken.

*I acknowledge a debt to Gertrude Stein for the hypnotic succession of adverbs in the first sentence of this post.

Roasted Chicken with Vinegared Grapes

(adapted from Melissa Clark)

Note:  The longer you allow the dried, salted chicken to sit in the refrigerator, the more crisp the skin will be after roasting.  Overnight is ideal, but give it at least several hours.

Timing:                            

Just under 2 hours, includes 1 hour to cure, but do yourself favor and salt the chicken and cure it overnight in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:                                 Serves 4 or 5

1 (4 lb.) whole chicken, patted dry.  For larger chickens, increase the cooking time.

2 tablespoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

2 medium red onions or one large

Small bunch of herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage and or tarragon) plus some more for garnish

1 ½ pounds red, green, or purple seedless grapes snipped into small bunches (red or purple look prettier)

Extra-virgin olive oil as needed

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar or tarragon vinegar, divided

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

Prep:

Pat the chicken dry and season inside and out with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.  A little extra pepper or nutmeg won’t hurt.

If you have time, refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hour.

Arrange racks in the top third and the bottom third of your oven and heat oven to 425 F.

Halve the onions and cut one into ¼-inch-thick slices and the other into very thin slices – use a mandolin if you can.

Cook:

Place the chicken, breast-side up, on a wire rack set into a rimmed sheet pan.  If you don’t have such a rack, don’t worry, but for goodness sake get one.

Stuff the cavity of the chicken with herbs.  At this point I like to truss the chicken for even cooking – but you don’t need to.

Now drizzle the chicken lightly with olive oil and roast on the bottom rack until the juices run clear when you pierce the thick part of the thigh – instant read thermometer should register 165.  This will take about 1 hour – more for a larger chicken.  The chicken should rest for 1 minute before carving,

While the chicken is roasting, make the vinegared grapes.  Pull ½ lb. of grapes from their stems and halve or quarter if large.  Toss in a bowl with the thinly sliced onions and 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the coriander and a large pinch of salt.  Let rest while the chicken cooks.

On another rimmed sheet pan, scatter the remaining 1 pound of grapes and the thickly sliced onions.  Sprinkle with salt, drizzle with olive oil and place on the top rack in the oven and roast until the onions are golden and the grapes shriveled and browned in spots.  (If some of the onions get charred, that’s ok).

Wile the chicken rests, make the sauce – In a small skillet or saucepan, bring the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of water and a large pinch of salt to a simmer.  Whisk in the cubes of cold butter, a bit at a time, until the sauce is emulsified – maybe 3 minutes.  Taste and add nutmeg and more salt, if needed.

Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted grapes and onions, spoon some of the sauce and pan juices over the meat.  Top with the vinegared grapes and onions and more herbs for garnish.