Roasted Pumpkin and Fingerling Potatoes with Thyme and Black Mission Figs

So this is a riff on a recipe I got from my old Harmony and Counterpoint professor Jairo Moreno, who you may remember from my roasted chicken post. He mentioned the original pumpkin free recipe in class last fall and I have been trying to make it for some time, but I must admit finding all the proper ingredients all in one trip to the grocery store is a little tricky. Even the humongous Whole Foods on Houston St. has fingerling potatoes only sporadically, and happening upon a pumpkin, especially small enough to not be eating pumpkin for the next two weeks, forget about it... Luckily if you want to whip this up in a flash you could use any gourd or small baking potato you prefer though I have to say that the fingerling potatoes have a suppleness and a certain bite size elegance hard to find in other varieties.

The original recipe I heard from Jairo didn't have the pumpkin but a few weeks ago I was invited to a pumpkin food party, and with the right pantry items on hand, I couldn't resist myself.  This is a perfect fall meal.  Hearty, rustic, and elegant this dish would be sure to impress next to your favorite roasted pheasant or quail recipe.  Come on, you know you are tempted...


Fingerling potatoes
Dried mission figs
Oolong Tea
Thyme
Olive Oil
Salt

Boil and prepare the tea in enough water to cover all the figs.  Cover the figs with hot tea and keep submerged till enough tea has been absorbed and the figs are turgid such that they will stay moist during cooking, this should take an hour or two.  Preheat oven to 400.  Put figs in baking pan w/ potatoes (cut lengthwise in half if you prefer) and drizzle with olive oil.  Add salt and thyme, then mix till seasoned evenly.   Bake at 400 till potatoes are for tender (around 45, probably more)

One For My Friends and Enemies: Roasted Chicken

Jairo Moreno is a musician, food enthusiast, proud Columbian, and bad-ass. Also I would not discredit him for being a large inspiration for this blog. His harmony and counterpoint lectures would always fluctuate between ruminations on philosophy, food, music theory, and reminding us (through various incarnations) of the long arm of Columbian justice. Almost every morning he would greet our class of about twenty five music students referring to us as "my friends and enemies". He was notorious for pulling out any of our names mid-sentence, sometimes to ask a question and sometimes for no reason at all. Needless to say this man kept us on our toes, all while teaching us lessons on the finer points of criticism, the creative process, and the world at large. I am sure that no one in harmony and counterpoint 1 will ever forget his anecdote on the 6/4 chord and the "butter slut potatoes" (in short both are a one trick pony says Jairo and "you don't call back a 6/4 chord"). Here is a recipe that Jairo gave me after hearing of my moderately successful attempt at a roasted chicken. "This is the best roasted chicken recipe in America" says Jairo. It is a recipe from Zumi Cafe in San Francisco that is nationally renowned for its brick oven roasted chicken.

This preparation is mad legit, I cooked it for my family over winter break to great success. The skin turns out crispy and the bird at large is juicy and flavorful through and through. The 24 hour marinating period im not sure is entirely necessary, the aspect that separates this method from the rest of the pack is the cooking method. 500 degrees F is a pretty formidable cooking temperature and turning the bird mid roast was something new to me as well, but in the end it is all well worth it.

1 Chicken

Garlic

Thyme

Aprox. 1tbs olive oil

salt to taste

Rub the the above mentioned seasonings on and under the skin of the chicken and let sit, loosely covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Take out of refrigerator and let the chicken stand at room temperature for approximately 1 hour. Pre-heat oven to 500 (yes that is right 500 degrees). Roast for 30 min. breast side up. Flip bird. Roast for 15 min. breast side down. Let rest for about 10 min, then carve and enjoy.

A chicken safety reference guide

note: I am not completely sure on the proportions I just minced enough garlic and thyme so that I got decent coverage over the whole chicken. Even the cooking time will probably need some adjustment (for example I made a larger chicken so I extended the cooking time on each side a few minutes). As long as you don't go nuts with the seasoning the recipe will taste great. I will take this moment to remind you an important lesson of cooking: just do it. Cooking is a dynamic process, always different every time. Just like playing music, you can memorize a song or shred all the while, but in the end it is all about building your intuitions and making something that ultimately works for the moment. Oh yeah and failure is always essential, although it hurts a little more when it involves ten dollars worth of chicken.