Celebrate National ‘Bloomsday’ with Chef Rob Bleifer’s Herb-Roasted Chicken

Our Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir is a Classic Pairing with Roast Chicken and a Good Read

June 16^th is National Bloomsday, commemorating the life and legend of Irish writer James Joyce. The significance of June 16 is taken from his 1922 novel, “Ulysses,” which takes place on June 16, 1904, and follows a day in the life of the story’s protagonist Leopold Bloom. (Coincidently, “Ulysses” was published just after the end of the Spanish Flu Pandemic.)

Throughout Ulysses, food plays an important role in revealing the characters’ personalities. Food and its consumption receive a complex and subtle significance reflecting social class, temperament, and offers opportunities for interaction.

Lloyd Cellars is all about the role food plays in our lives, and over the past year-and-a-half, the impact it’s had on the hospitality world and especially restaurants. We’re celebrating the resilience of restaurateurs, chefs, servers, and front- and back-of-house folk with our ‘Back to Fine Dining’ campaign to inspire people to get out and support!

We’re also sharing recipes from our friend Chef Robert Bleifer to inspire families to once again gather around the table with friends to break bread and toast to better times. We thought Chef’s Herb-Roasted Chicken recipe was a good fit for the day, though we’re sure Joyce would have requested the bird’s livers fried.

Enjoy and remember to follow Chef Bleifer on Instagram at @chef_robear!

Click here to order our Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Chef Bleifer Herb-Roasted Chicken

Chef Bleifer is all about the spatchcock technique – the chicken cooks more evenly as it's on a level surface, so the breast and thigh meat are done at the same time. It's all about balance, just like our Lloyd Cellars Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, a blend from the Rio Vista and La Viña vineyards.

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Ingredients

  

• 1 chicken 4-5 pounds
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 sprigs rosemary stems removed and chopped
• 4 sprigs thyme stems removed and chopped
• 4 sprigs marjoram stems removed and chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic sliced thin
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• If you choose, you can marinate the chicken at room temperature for 2 hours before cooking, or just go straight into the oven.
• Spatchcock the chicken, aka remove the backbone, so that the chicken can lay flat for cooking.
• The easiest way to remove the backbone is to cut along each side of the backbone with kitchen shears, starting next to the tail and working your way down towards the neck.
• Once the backbone is removed, either press hard on the middle of the breast to help flatten the chicken or make a slight cut on the underside by the keel bone to make this easier.
• Once the chicken is spatchcocked, gently slide your fingers under the skin and place half of the chopped herbs and garlic under the skin.
• Rub the chicken all over with olive oil.
• Season liberally with salt and pepper and season the underside with the remaining chopped herbs and garlic.
• Heat oven to 400.
• Place the chicken on a large sheet pan or shallow roasting pan and place in oven with the legs towards the back of the oven. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, rotating the chicken after 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should register 160 in the breast and 180 in the thighs.
• If you had marinated the chicken at room temperature, cooking time should be somewhat shorter. Begin checking the internal temperature after 60 minutes.
• When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and place on a carving board and let cool for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
• Serve with rice or potatoes and your favorite seasonal vegetable.

Source material: https://nationaltoday.com/bloomsday/