Who doesn’t love cooking or baking with vanilla? This month, we’re partnering with Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt to share tips, insights and recipes featuring vanilla.
It seems like everyone has an opinion about the best way to roast chicken. You can dry brine, wet brine, buttermilk brine — roast at high heat, roast low-and-slow. But have you ever heard of brushing your bird with vanilla?
Absolutely.
Sweet and savory aren’t at odds with one another. In fact, so often they form a beautiful marriage where one improves the other — as a good marriage should. It’s an unexpected combination that will leave your guests wowed and asking you for the recipe.
If time and ease are a concern, there’s one shortcut that will make this recipe even simpler: Make a fragrant butter by mashing together a half a stick of soft butter along with finely minced shallot, lemon zest and the seeds of a vanilla bean. Tuck it on and under the chicken skin. Whatever ends up in the bottom of the pan creates a lovely sauce to spoon over the finished and sliced chicken.
And why stop there? Try it with turkey and especially duck, whose rich texture is famous for pairing quite well with fruit, which means the sweet notes vanilla brings to the table will make great friends with duck as well.
Live.Love.Lux Tip: Never worry about uneven roasting, thanks to the dual-fan convection heat in your Electrolux Gas Range.
