Szechuan Pepper Roasted Chicken with Udon Noodles in Ramen Broth

On the rare occasion I find myself at home alone, aside from the puppies, on a weekend (others are off turkey hunting and golfing), my days are filled working in the yard or in the kitchen. This past weekend, I binge watched Gordon Ramsey’s Master Class on Friday night and could hardly wait to get to the market Saturday morning. Two roasted chickens, some botched asparagus cream I inadvertently turned into soup, and some delicious glazed carrots later, I found myself with a refrigerator full of food. I feel like Jane Adler, if only I had her fairytale garden and successful business… The following recipe was the stand-out. Oh, I almost forgot my favorite new discovery – lemon salt!

A side note, Chef Ramsey ended up with a ton of pan juice, I however, did not, so I deglazed the pan with a cup of chicken stock. The roasted chicken is super easy, juicy and packed with flavor, and could easily be served with potatoes and a vegetable if you’re not feeling like ramen. In the yard, the tulips are gone and only a few stragglers of Narcissis are left, but the hellebores are turning to seed, so their vase life is finally longer than an afternoon.

Szechuan Roasted Chicken

• 1 whole chicken (Springer Mountain Farms – Publix) 4.5 lbs
• Szechuan pepper corns 3 TBS -ground
• Black pepper corns – 3 TBS – ground
• 1 Fennel bulb – quartered
• 1 white onion – peeled and quartered
• 1 lemon – quartered
• 2 egg yolks – lightly beaten to egg wash the skin
• Lemon salt – 5 TBS – divided (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove giblets, bring the bird up to room temperature, and pat dry with a paper towel. Season the cavity with lemon salt and stuff with as much of the fennel, lemon and onion as will fit. Brush the entire outside of the chicken with the egg yolk wash (get under the wings too). Combine the ground Szechuan and black pepper and sprinkle the outside with the pepper mixture and 4 TBS of lemon salt. Truss the chicken. Place the chicken on a wire rack and set on sheet pan (to catch the drippings used to make the ramen broth later). Roast for 1 hour or until the leg joint reaches 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and LET IT REST 10 minutes (the juices will redistribute within the chicken) before carving.

Reserve the pan juices for the ramen broth (let the juices drain from the cavity too). Chicken naturally does not have a lot of fat. If you don’t have any pan juices, deglaze the pan with 1 cup of chicken broth. The carcass is full of flavor and can be used to make stock. Another great tip: If you are not using the chicken the same day as roasting, use several tablespoons of stock in the bottom of an ovenproof dish, place down the chicken piece (skin side up) and reheat on 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. You’ll have crispy skin and juicy meat.

Ramen Broth

• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup roasted chicken pan juices
• 1 nob ginger – peel and rough chop
• 1 stalk lemon grass – rough chop (Far East market)
• 4 cloves garlic – peel and crush
• 15 cilantro springs – separate stems and tops
• 1 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1 TBS soy sauce – Tamari is GF
• few drops of sesame oil to finish

Combine chicken stock, roasting juice, ginger, lemon grass, garlic and cilantro stems and simmer 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Over medium heat, reduce the broth by half (keep at a steady gentle rolling boil). Strain the broth through a sieve and garnish with a few cilantro leaves and a few drops of sesame oil.

Udon Noodles

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms – julienned
• 2 tsb sesame oil
• 1/2 cup bok choy – chiffonade (Far East Market)
• 2 TBS unsalted butter
• 1/4 sugar snap peas – sliced thin on the bias
• 4 scallions – rough chopped
• 9 oz udon noodles (Lotus Foods GF – Fresh Market)

In a large sauté pan heat oil on medium high. Add mushrooms and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add the bok choy and butter and continue to sauté another minute. Add sugar snap peas and scallions and toss to heat through 1 -2 minutes.

Cook udon noodles until al dente, according to package directions. Strain and toss with a TBS of olive oil.

Lemon Salt

• 3 lemons
• 3 TBS Maldon salt

Zest lemons. Combine zest and salt. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the salt and zest together. Store in an airtight container, in a dry place, for up to 2 weeks.

Plating

Lift a serving of noodles onto a meat fork and straighten out. Using the side of the bowl, gently roll the noodles around the fork to create a nest. Transfer to plate. Spoon the vegetables over the noodles. Top with chicken breast sliced on the diagonal. Ladle in a generous amount of broth and sprinkle the chicken slices with lemon salt. Garnish with cilantro leaves and scallions. You can make scallion hairs by slicing the green part of the scallion on the diagonal (almost parallel) in very long thin strips. Put them in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes so they curl up.