Brining with Seamus

Lately I've been really invested in finding good food to go in my body that's filling and healthy and leaves me feeling better about myself.  Rather than, you know, like I want to lay down and cry about the four pieces of pizza I just ate.  Luckily, my good pal Gwyneth Paltrow pointed me in the direction of this book:

Hero Food, by Seamus Mullen, is an awesome Spanish-inspired cookbook.  After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Seamus, a chef in New York, started a mission to identify the foods that made him feel better.  He found, conveniently enough, that the foods he loved and craved tended to be the foods that made him healthier.  Aren't our bodies cool that way?

Anyway, the cookbook is beautiful, and filled with delicious-sounding recipes organized by season and by main ingredient.  For Sunday dinner tomorrow, I'm making the Sunday Roast Chicken.  First step:  brine the chicken overnight.  Apparently this will make it juicy and flavorful.

I've never brined anything before - luckily, Seamus provided a basic recipe and I improvised from there:

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, 3-5 lbs.
8 cups water, separated
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
Handful each of basil, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, and sage

Fresh herbs smell delicious.  Except for tarragon.  I don't love the smell of that.

Bring two cups of water to boil on the stove.  Add salt and sugar and stir until fully dissolved.  Pour in to a large bowl and add 6 cups cold water.  You'll want to make sure the water is cold before adding the chicken.  I cheated and added ice cubes to cool it down.

Add the rest of herbs and the onion.  Once the water is cold, add the chicken.  Cover and refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours - longer is perfect if you have the time.

I plan to take the bird out of the brine about four hours before I cook tomorrow.  Seamus recommends letting the bird dry in the refrigerator - rumor has it this will help make the skin nice and crispy once we bake it.  I'll trust Seamus on this.

James also is put tons of effort in to the prep work for tomorrow's dinner:  he started soaking the baby lima beans.

While we slaved away in the kitchen, Zoe and Zebra slept on the couch.  They gave me these looks when I woke them up to take pictures:

Zebra

Zoe

Pets are great.