Tag Archives: best roast chicken recipe

Everything’s Coming Up Roses, Part I: The Roast Chicken

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Dried rose petals make this roast chicken extra pretty and even more delicious.
Dried rose petals make this roast chicken extra pretty and even more delicious.

Let me just flat-out say that this dish of “Rosy Harissa Chicken” proved to be the most deeply flavorful chicken I’ve had in a long time.

Part of the reason? The addition of dried rose petals.

I know, I know, you’re squinting your eyes in disbelief, thinking that surely that ingredient would make this roast chicken taste unappetizingly of your mother’s face cream.

Granted, on its own, there is a rather potpourri quality to dried rose petals. But when used judiciously with other complementary ingredients, they make everything all together soar.

I got mine as a sample from Selefina Spices, a new online business by Adagio Teas. It’s a natural extension for the tea company, which already sources from farms all over the world.

Selefina's fragrant dried rose petals.
Selefina’s fragrant dried rose petals.

What’s especially nice is that it sells in small quantities to ensure freshness. So, you can buy just the amount you need. For instance, you can get a 0.07-ounce sample of the dried rose petals for only 75 cents, a 2-ounce pinch for $3, or a 1.5-ounce refill for $6.

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Kombu Roast Chicken with Kabocha Squash and Daikon

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Roast chicken gets super juicy and savory, thanks to kombu compound butter underneath its skin.
Roast chicken gets super juicy and savory, thanks to kombu compound butter underneath its skin.

At the stunning Harbor House Inn situated on a bluff over the ocean on the Mendocino Coast, Executive Chef Matthew Kammerer takes pride in foraging all that he can from the sea to star in his minimalist dishes full of finesse.

That includes making his own salt from seawater and incorporating seaweed in the house butter.

But you don’t have to go to that extreme to enjoy his “Kombu Roast Chicken with Kabocha Squash and Daikon” in your own home.

A taste of the sea.
A taste of the sea.

Instead, this dish by the chef who received his first Michelin star last year just takes stopping at a Japanese market to pick up some kombu. The dried kelp, so full of umami, is pulverized and mixed with softened butter, garlic and lemon zest, then smeared gently underneath the skin of a whole chicken before roasting.

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