chicken for one-ish
don't forget you're allowed to cook good for just for yourself
One day, I will stop talking about Schnitzel Party, but today is not that day. Or, rather, today is not the day that I stop talking about the Schnitzel Party comments — most of which were nice. Some of which were about how ridiculous people thought I was for tossing a salad with my bare hands (honey… grow up). However, there was one particular kind of comment that really stuck out to me, and one that I saw over and over and over again on Instagram and on TikTok.
The comment, of which there were many variations, generally went something like this: “Wow, I wish I had a group of friends to cook that for.” Or, “Would love to make this, but I have no one to invite over.”
The first thing that I want to say is that friendship comes and goes in waves. Sometimes, you’ve got lots of friends to invite over for a Schnitzel Party, and other times… not so much. That, as they say, is life. That’s how it goes. I happen to be in a season of my life where I’ve got plenty of friends to invite over to eat, and for that, I feel very, extremely lucky. One day, I might not, and that’ll be okay, too.
That also brings me to the second thing I want to say, which is that you don’t need to have people over in order to cook yourself something fancy and delicious and fun. You don’t need the permission of company to be indulgent. You are enough of a reason to buy nice ingredients and cook yourself a meal that is special.
For the finale of ATK: Next Gen, I came up with the idea for ‘chicken for one-ish.’ It was a spatchcocked roasted chicken with roasted red onions, tangy aioli, and a chicken fat chimichurri. Well, to be fair, I came up with the idea before the show, but I named it there. I called it chicken for one-ish because, as I explained to the judges, sometimes I roast a whole chicken for guests, but sometimes I just need a whole roast chicken to myself.
Occasionally, I plate up the chicken and onions and sauces really nicely. I pick out a movie. I light a candle or two. I use a fork and a knife and I might even dig in a drawer for a cloth napkin. But, other times, I just eat the chicken straight off the pan. Usually while standing over the kitchen sink. I keep the sauces in the bowls I mixed them in and just go at everything with my bare hands. Personally, I feel particularly glamorous either way. It is almost impossible not to feel glamorous when you have a whole roast chicken in front of you.
If there are leftovers (and yes, I said if — some people might not be able to eat a whole chicken by themselves, but I am not most people), I’ll toss them in a container and have them for lunch the next day. A roast chicken is the gift that keeps on giving. Make chicken salad. Eat it cold out of the bag. Save the bones and make a gorgeous, lovely broth. No matter what, you really can’t go wrong.
And I guarantee you, with almost absolute certainty, that when you do finally pull out that leftover roast chicken, you’ll think, “Thank GOD I made this for myself and that no one else was here to deprive me the luxury of these stunning leftovers.” Or, well, something like that. I promise. I think you really will.
It feels like a real shame, to me personally, that we have turned making good meals into something that we only do for other people. Or, perhaps, it has always been this way, and this is just the reality we’ve been born into. I don’t know. I’m not a historian! But, probably more importantly, we do have the ability to change that way of thinking.
You don’t have to wait for anyone to come over to have an excuse to make something really delicious. You are enough of a reason to roast a whole chicken. Or make a big chocolate cake. Or slice up a lot of fresh fruit really beautifully and lay it out on a board in a fun little design. You also don’t need to have a party to get a party-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and eat the whole thing, either. You are a party. Life is a party. So, eat some really good food.
chicken for one-ish: ingredients
chicken
1 (3.5-4lb) whole chicken, spatchcocked (you can ask your butcher to do this if you don’t want to do it at home)
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
3 large red onions, quartered, roots intact
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
tangy aioli
2 large egg yolks
2 garlic cloves, grated
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
⅓ cup olive oils
salt and pepper to taste
chicken fat chimichurri
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
½ cup fresh oregano leaves
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
1 small shallot, peeled
2 cloves garlic
1 (2-inch) nub of ginger (no need to peel it, but you can if it makes you feel better)
1 fresno chile, stemmed
salt to taste
If you want a kind-of-sort-of visual tutorial, here you go!
chicken for one-ish: method
A few notes! First, step four (making the aioli) can be done anytime; it doesn’t have to be step four. You can do it before the chicken goes in the oven if you don’t want to have too much to do while it’s roasting.
Also, just go ahead and keep a kitchen towel on the handle of the cast iron skillet so you remember it’s hot when it comes out of the oven. You’re moving it around quite a bit, and nothing ruins your day quite like boldly grabbing the hot handle of a cast iron skillet fresh from the oven.
Also, you don’t need a food processor for the chimichurri, but it sure is nice. You can absolutely just chop everything very well and mix it aggressively (or, if you’ve got an extremely large molcajete, definitely use that)
Finally, your chicken is done when it reaches 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, this is your sign to get one. All the cool kids are using them! Okay, enough notes; here we go.
Adjust your oven racks to the middle and lowest positions, and preheat your oven to 450. Place a large cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat up.
While the oven preheats, spatchcock your chicken (if you didn’t have the butcher do it for you). Turn the chicken onto its breast and, using kitchen shears, cut along either side of the backbone to remove it (save it to make stock!).
Flip the chicken over and press down firmly on the breast to flatten it (you should hear a little pop).
Season both sides with salt and fresh ground black pepper (~1 teaspoon of salt per lb of meat).
Quarter the onions, leaving the roots intact, and remove the outermost layer of paper. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange so that one cut side lays flat on the baking sheet.
Once the oven is preheated, using oven mitts or a heavy kitchen towel, remove the heated cast iron from the oven and place it on the stove over medium heat. (I leave a kitchen towel on the handle of the pan so I don’t burn myself!)
Add two tablespoons of oil to the pan (it will immediately smoke—that’s fine!). Then, place the chicken, breast side down, in the pan and press down, doing your best to ensure as much skin as possible is making contact with the pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the skin starts to brown.
Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the chicken, and put the heaviest pot or pan you have on top (another cast iron or Dutch oven should do the trick). Transfer to the oven. (If the pan is too heavy, you can put the second pan on top once the whole thing is in.)
Place the onions on the rack below the chicken and roast for 25 minutes.In the meantime, make aioli and start the chimichurri.
Whisk egg yolks, grated garlic, one tablespoon of the lemon juice, and mustard in a medium-sized bowl until smooth. Slowly add oil in a steady stream, starting with a few drops at a time, making sure it’s all emulsified before adding more until all the oil is gone. Once thickened and lighter in color, add remaining lemon juice (start with one tablespoon and add more until desired tanginess is achieved), and season with salt.
In a food processor, add the garlic, shallot, ginger, and chili and pulse until well chopped. Add the parsley, mint, and oregano leaves and pulse again until finely chopped. Leave everything in the food processor (or bowl if you don’t have a food processor) and wait for the chicken to be done.
Remove the chicken and onion from the oven. Using oven mitts, carefully set the second pan aside. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the onions to keep them warm. Using tongs (or a kitchen tool of your choosing), flip the chicken so it is breast-side up and return the pan to the oven for five minutes.
Once done, and the chicken temps at 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast, remove from the oven and transfer to a large plate or platter to rest.
Finish the chimichurri.
You should have about a quarter cup of fat and drippings in the pan, more or less. You can eyeball this — it doesn’t need to be exact! But if it looks like a lot more than a quarter cup, pour some off.
Set the pan over medium heat, add the red wine vinegar, and scrape the brown bits off the bottom using a wooden spoon, and then turn off the heat.Add the chicken fat and vinegar mixture and ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil to the food processor and pulse until combined. Taste and adjust for seasoning and consistency as necessary (you may need to add extra salt and oil).
And, well, that’s it! (lol at me saying “that’s it” after a, like, thirty-step recipe). Plate the chicken up or eat it with your hands standing over the sink. Sure, you could make this for friends, but honestly, just make it for yourself. Light a candle. Open some wine. I probably don’t know you, but I know you deserve it. And I also know you’ll never regret taking a little bit of time to make yourself something really, really tasty.
MUAH,
Garrett
can’t wait to make this!!