I know what you’re thinking, shouldn’t that read chicken and waffles? Pancakes? That’s weird… Let me explain. In between my quest to conquer mayo-less egg salads, coffee slushies and beer glazed brownies I overlooked some of the most basic meals that are a must have in any chef’s arsenal of comfort foods. Was I intimidated by the perfection of the pancake? Was I weary of handling an entire bird? Perhaps, but fear no more because I took the culinary plunge, came out deliciously successful on the other side, and have emerged from the most glorious food coma to tell you about it. Enter Sunday’s roast chicken and Saturday morning pancakes. Yes I know, these two things appear incredibly opposite, one a protein packed entree, the other a sugar feign’s brunch delight, but I assure you they are more similar than they seem. (And the pancakes don’t necessarily need sugar per say to taste just as sweet, see how this food blog goes to work for taste buds and waistlines alike? They can thank me later.)

Here’s the thing about a roast chicken: you really can’t mess it up. As long as the chicken is cooked and your not serving salmonella, there isn’t too much that can go wrong and you will be left with a hot meal that can serve a ton of people or last as leftovers for days via a fairly hands off experience that leaves time for other, much more pressing things like preparing yourself for the last season premiere of Breaking Bad. That’s 2 months away? A piece of me will surely disappear when that’s over, so leave me to watch old episodes in anticipation and … I digress.

Pancakes: same thing… well, not exactly, but nearly because what can go so wrong with fresh fruit (frozen works too) and flour and pats of butter? Simple carbs have never tasted so meltingly good.. ever. I even got away with excluding sugar and couldn’t-really-but-does-that-mean-I’m-terrible-at-discerning-pancake-perfection taste the difference.

Top ten tips for roasting a chicken:

• Buy a good bird. The first few times I bought a bird I bought it from the butcher and was left with, I now need bakers twine? Be sure that the bird you buy the insides are removed (gizzard removed) and the feet are tied up (so you don’t have to). Recipe calls for baker’s twine but you have none? No worries because your bird is already prepped.

What you want: 1) USDA Organic Certified- (raised with specific set of humane guidelines [think: stress free meat, tastier bird] and fed an organic diet, free of anitbiotics or synthetic pesticides) 2) Air chilled- this newer process chills the bird in, well, air, which can lead to a crispier bird than it’s water chilled counterpart that tends to be more soggy. What you don’t want: 1) The labels ‘Natural’ and ‘Hormone free’ can be deceiving because poultry in the US is prohibited from getting added hormones (but not antibiotics) and are often cleaned in a saline solution and pumped with additives like preservatives

• Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal. Rinse your chicken really well with water and pat dry with paper towels. I do this over the sink and have my baking dish ready, that way I can rinse, put the bird down, pat with towels, throw towels out, and thoroughly wash my hands in swoop.
• Breast side down. All the juices from the bird will sink down and settle in the breast meat, keeping those parts nice and juicy. Per the Dinner a Love Story Cookbook, your chicken ‘should look like a desperate woman.’ Against every feminist bone in my body, that quickly clarified which side went up, so I’m keeping the analogy.
• Hot, hot, hot. High heat is your best friend , crisping the outside of the chicken and insuring a good roast. A thermometer should read 165-170′ degrees when inserted in the inner most area of the breast.
• Don’t overcook. Because the last you thing want after slaving over a bird is dry meat, see note above and you’ll be fine. No thermometer? Make sure the juices start to run clear.
• Butter is your friend, and for the health conscience, a butter blend. A good rub of melted butter or olive oil or butter-oil combo makes for a perfectly browned outside.
• Under is better. To really saturate the meat with your spices, wedge your fingers in between the skin and the meat and coat everything.
• Let your vegetables work for you.  Strategically use enough chopped up veggies (cut in similar size for even roasting) so that you have an ample amount to spread underneath the bird, preventing it from getting soggy in its own juices and letting the vegetables add flavor to the bird.
• Don’t forget the aromatics. Part of the fun in roasting a chicken is your ability to kind of create your own concoction of garlic or thyme or rosemary or both or none and lemon and other herbs etc. The chicken is your canvas, you the artist, aromatic away.
• Season generously. Salt, pepper, olive oil, butter, more pepper. Hungry yet?

A good roasted chicken will make you feel ever so successful in the kitchen and armed with the knowledge that if all you have is a bird, lemon and garlic, you can feed your family for days, happily. Now that we’ve covered Sunday night dinner, let’s talk about pancakes Saturday morning. I love a good boozy brunch as much as the next, but there are times when I need a pancake that tastes like, well, exactly like the ones that call for sour cream. I told you I held back on the sugar, but omitting the sour cream? I’m not jumping into those waters people.

Top tips for flipping a good pancake:

• Use sour cream. Or yogurt. The best pancakes I’ve made have included this secret weapon that should no longer be famous for their pairing with burritos and parfaits, okay, still give them the credit for that: but pancakes with these dairy combos? You won’t be sorry (see recipe note below for the best ever sour cream pancake recipe, honestly ever)
• Here’s the butter thing again, pats of it. Just like it saved the skin of the chicken, melted butter in a hot pan is key to browning the pancake to crispy perfection. No PAM spray necessary. Olive oil can kind of be substituted here, but you may run into issues, if you’re having health qualms about melted butter, note the use of blueberries (antioxidants!) and perhaps we all win?
• Drop in your fruits (or chocolate chips!) The best thing I ever did was become incredibly undecided about blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, and waiting until I had already dropped the batter on the pan to decide. The result? By pressing the blueberries into the pancake after it had already been dolloped on, it didn’t hit the pan directly and therefore made for a much cleaner pancake cooking experience, no need to smear around burning chocolate or blueberry bit.
• Heat your oven. The best advice (other than the subsequent sour cream addition) that I have ever read (thank you Smitten Kitchen) is to preheat your oven to its lowest temp for warming purposes. This will let you run your morning (or night, no ones judging) pancake experience less like a restaurant They’re hot people, come and get them! and more like family bonding extravaganza Isn’t this sooo good? you’ll say to each other while piling on more fruit and maple syrup because you will have kept the pancakes that are done first in the oven, so they remain just as piping hot as the last ones that make it to the table. Can you see it now?
• Keep the dollops at just under 1/4 cup and the pan just under medium heat. Pancake batter will spread, so don’t jump the gun and add too much, making yours too big and unmanageable when you go to flip and don’t get to anxious and turn the heat up to quicken the cooking process and inevitably burn your cakes.

Roasted Chicken, ever so slightly adapted from Dinner A Love Story the Cookbook

ingredients
6 potatoes, cut into chunks (I doubled this because I knew I was going to make lunches out of the leftovers)
3 medium carrots, peeled, cut into chunks (I did five, no reason to not use this opportunity to get in your veggie intake?! And I didn’t peel mine, personal preferance)
1 whole roasting chicken
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature, or olive oil (or a combo of both, see note above)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, pricked several times with a knife
1 small bunch fresh thyme (or rosemary or your choice of herb)
other options: whole onion, quartered, garlic cloves, peeled and minced for the seasoning of the bird, or roasted with the vegetables, just peeled 

directions

for the vegetables:
Heat oven to 425°F. Arrange potatoes and carrots in a large oven-proof skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  (If you’re wanting to use an onion, place it here too). Place in oven and roast for 15 minutes.

for the bird:
Meanwhile,  rinse inside and outside of chicken under cold water and pat dry.  Rub chicken skin with butter and season with salt and pepper (or olive oil, or combo, see note and garlic).  Fill cavity with lemon and thyme (or other herb).  Place chicken breast-side up over roasting vegetables and continue roasting until chicken is a golden brown and juice run clear when thigh is pierced with a fork, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove chicken from the oven, let sit for a few minutes after flipping back over to let the juices set and carve.

Sour cream Pancakes, ever so slight adapted from Smitten Kitchen
[warning: these are addicting. Run out of your house in your pj's because you're making another batch and have run out of sour cream addicting.]

ingredients:

1 large egg
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-2 tablespoons butter, for the pan
fruit: peaches, blueberries, chocolate chips, raspberries

additional note: the original recipe calls for peaches, their caramelization paired with the sour cream being unbelievable  but I’ve found that other fruits and even chocolate chips pair really, really well too, like illegally well. If going the peach route, slice peaches very thinly (1/8 inch thin) and place on one side of the cake after you’ve dropped the dollop down, so that when you flip the cake, the slice cooks and melts into your pancake. 

directions:

for the pancake

The key takeaway from Deb Pearlman’s pancake knowledge is to whisk together the wet ingredients first, then fold in your dry ingredients and don’t over mix. The whisking of the eggs first is key to a light and fluffy pancake. Mix together the egg, vanilla and sour cream, giving a good stir to the sour cream so that the chunks separate. In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, baking powder and baking soda and fold gently into the wet mixture. Heat a bit of butter in a medium sized pan (Deb recommends the cast iron for the best browning, I didn’t use mine because I feared the clean up would take longer, but maybe I should have) and when the butter is melted and starts to glisten, pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter in, letting it spread and flatten naturally.

for the add ins

Push in your blueberries or other add ins while the pancake is still cooking on one side. Flip when little bubbles begin to form all over, and you can easily scoot the pancake in the pan with a spatula. Pick up the pancake, with your other hand move the remaining butter back into the spot where you will lay the uncooked side of the pancake down, and finish flipping the cake. Remove pancake when done to a plate, and place in your heated oven to keep warm.