Lidia’s roasted chicken in beer, wine-braised beef

Heat the oven to 250 degrees F with a rack set in the center. Season all surfaces of the roast with half the salt. Pour the olive oil into a large, heavy braiser and set over medium- high heat. Lay the roast in, and brown it, until caramelized all over. Remove to a platter.

While keeping the skillet over medium- high heat, drop in the cut vegetables and garlic cloves, toss to coat with oil, and spread out in the pan. Drop in the rosemary, sage leaves, grated nutmeg, peppercorns, dried porcini, and remaining teaspoon salt, and toss all together. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up the browned meat bits on the pan bottom, just until the vegetables soften; then lower the heat.

Push the vegetables to the sides and return the roast to the pan, laying it flat on the bottom. Pour in the bottles of wine and any meat juices that collected on the platter. The roast should be at least half submerged- add beef stock as needed.

Cover the pot, and heat until the wine is steaming but not boiling. Uncover the pan, and place it in the oven. After 30 minutes, rotate the roast so the exposed meat is now submerged in the braising liquid.

Braise this way, turning the meat in the pan every 30 minutes, for about 3 hours, until fork- tender. The liquid should not boil- if it does, pour in some cold water to stop the bubbling, and lower the oven temperature.

After 2½ hours, check the beef. It should be fork tender. Take the pan from the oven. Remove the meat to a platter, with intact carrot and celery pieces to serve as a garnish. Skim any fat from the braising juices, heat to a boil, and reduce to a saucy consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Pour through a sieve set over a clean container. Press the juices from the strained herbs and vegetable pieces. Pour in any juices from the meat platter, and season the sauce to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

(If you are not going to serve right away, put the meat and reserved vegetables in the sauce to rest and cool, for a couple of hours or overnight in the refrigerator.)

To serve, slice the meat crosswise (easiest when it is cool). Pour a shallow layer of sauce in a wide skillet, and lay the slices in, overlapping. Heat the sauce to bubbling, spooning it over the beef, so the slices are lightly coated. Lift them with a broad spatula and slide onto a warm platter, fanned out. Heat the carrots and celery in the sauce, too, if you've saved them, and arrange on the platter. Serve, passing more heated sauce at the table.

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven, and heat to 400 degrees F. Trim the excess fat from the chicken, and season it inside and out with half of the salt.

Scatter the onions, carrot, parsnips, sage, cloves, and cinnamon in the pot, sprinkle over this the rest of the salt, and set the chicken on top of the vegetables. Put the pot on the stove, pour in the stock, beer, and apple cider, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes on top of the stove.

Put the pot in the oven, and roast the chicken for about 30 minutes, basting with the pan juices two or three times. Cover the chicken with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning, and roast another 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and roast another 20 to 30 minutes, basting frequently, until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through and tender.

Remove the chicken to a warm platter, and surround with the vegetables. Bring the pan juices to a boil on top of the stove, and cook until reduced by half. Carve the chicken at the table, and spoon some of the pan juices on top.

Squash is becoming ever more popular, and I love cooking with it and its fabulous flavor as well.  This is a great side dish or appetizer- traditionally the zucca is fried before it is marinated, as I do here, but it is also delicious when grilled or boiled first. Though I recommend butternut squash, acorn, Hubbard, and other varieties will work as well.

Mix the vinegar, sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt together in a small saucepan. Let simmer over high heat until the sauce is reduced by half. Remove from the heat, drop in the garlic slices, and let the marinade cool. Stir in the olive oil.

Slice the squash in half lengthwise, and scrape out all the seeds. Peel the halves; with cut side down, cut crosswise into inch- thick half- rounds. Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil into a deep skillet, and set over medium- high heat. When the oil sizzles on contact with the squash, fill the pan with a layer of slices, spaced slightly apart. Fry for about 3 minutes on the first side, then flip the slices over.

Fry on the second side another 2 or 3 minutes, until the slices are cooked through (easy to pierce with the tines of a fork), crisped on the surface, and caramelized on the edges. Lift out the slices with a slotted spoon, draining off oil, and lay them on paper towels. Sprinkle some of the remaining salt lightly on the hot slices. Fry up all the squash, in batches, the same way.

Arrange a single layer of fried squash in the bottom of the marinating dish, and scatter four some of the shredded basil leaves on top. Stir up the marinade, and drizzle a couple of spoonfuls over squash.

Continue to layer the squash in the dish, topping each layer of fried slices with basil leaves, and garlic marinade. All the seasonings should be used- drizzle any remaining marinade over the top layer of squash. Wrap the dish in plastic, and marinate the squash for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight in the refrigerator; let it return to room temperature before serving.