Chicken Vermentin

Wine: Shotfire

We always look at the recipes in the New York Times but very rarely find one that interests us. We did see, however a recipe that really looked good: Roast Chicken Vermentin. We made it and it was excellent. We will definitely do it again! I suspect that the reason that we liked the chicken so much was that the recipe was from one of our favorite London restaurants: The River Café. We also have several of their cookbooks, but not the one this recipe was from.

We started with some of our leftover Asparagus Pasta.

We had heard of a brand of chicken called: Smart Chicken. We were told it is exceptional and they use it at Campanile. We arranged to get some Smart Chicken from Campanile and used it. The chicken really tasted like chicken. We will always try to buy it in the future. We need, however to find out where to purchase the chicken at a retail store. I have a call into Smart Chicken and will try and find a local outlet.

Our friend Martin had been telling us how great and large the Carrot Cake was at Litteratti II. He brought us a piece and we decided to have it for desert. It was so large, we split the piece in two saving a piece for the next dinner. The ½ of the piece we then split between us! It was excellent carrot cake, surrounded with actual carrots.

Roast Chicken Vermentin
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2 1/2 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) dried porcini mushrooms, or mixed dried mushrooms
1/4 up extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 4 1/2 -pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 pounds waxy boiling potatoes, like Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 cup Vermentino, or other crisp, citrusy white wine, like Pinot Grigio.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring 1 2/3 cups water to a simmer, and stir in the porcini; soak for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving both mushrooms and broth. Roughly chop the mushrooms.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the mushroom broth, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, so that it reduces by 1/3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Trim off excess fat from the chicken pieces. Rinse and pat dry. Place the chicken, skin-side down, in one layer, in a large roasting pan. Tuck the potatoes and mushrooms around the chicken. Sprinkle with the rosemary, wine and remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken over, season with more salt and pepper and continue cooking until the chicken and potatoes are lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes more. Serve with the vegetables and the juices from the pan. Serves 4. Adapted from ''Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes From the London River Cafe,'' by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.