Roasted chicken is one of my go-to recipes; whether it’s a weeknight, a last-minute dinner party, or a special occasion, roasted chicken evokes comfort and an image of the Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles movie Mona Lisa Smile: I’m a 50s era housewife, complete with heels, hostess apron, perfect hair, and immaculate red lipstick.  I know this picture is ridiculous, dated, and dusty. I admit that when I cook I don’t exactly glide around in a ball gown like Barbie in her Dream House (my husband has actually threatened to start a blog called Sh*tMyWifeWearsWhenSheCooks.com), but there it is. And I like it. It makes me feel like the hostess with the most-est, even when in reality I wind up sweaty and smelling like bacon after cooking—even when there was no bacon involved.

This is one of many roasted chicken variations I make. This one falls in the  special occasions category because it takes a teensy bit more work than a Tuesday night allows for. It’s accompanied by tart green apples, caramelized shallots, and pairs miraculously with the blue cheese bread pudding that follows.

ROASTED CHICKEN with APPLES, SHALLOTS, & BACON

Serves 2

I use a roasting pan to cook the chicken, but if you don’t have one, use a rimmed baking sheet.

1 (3 ½- to 4-pound) chicken
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
3 slices thick bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch wedges
8 shallots, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425°F.

- Split the chicken: Discard the “goody bag” inside the chicken. Turn the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board. Using kitchen shears (don’t try to use your desk scissors for this!), starting at the tail and finishing at the neck cavity, cut alongside the backbone. Repeat on opposite side and discard backbone. With a sharp chef’s knife, cut the chicken in half, using the breastbone as a guide.

- Rub the chicken with mustard and season generously with salt and pepper.

- Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

- Return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook one of the chicken halves, skin-side down, until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to roasting pan, skin-side up. Repeat with second chicken half.

- Add the apples, shallots, and brown sugar to now empty skillet and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden and beginning to soften, 6 to 8 minutes. Add vinegar and sage and season with salt and pepper. Arrange apple mixture around chicken and roast until it’s deep golden brown and juices run clear (thigh meat should register 170° to 175°F) 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board. While the chicken rests, prepare Blue Cheese Bread Pudding.

BLUE CHEESE BREAD PUDDING

Serves 2

Use sturdy bread in this recipe to avoid soggy results.
I used two 4-ounce oval ramekins for this recipe.
Use blue cheese of your choice; I prefer nutty, buttery Stilton.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
3 cups 1-inch bread cubes
1½ cups heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper

- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.

- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

- Grease ramekins with additional 1 tablespoon butter. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl. Arrange the bread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and brush them with the melted butter. Bake the cubes until golden and slightly crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack.

- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cooked shallots, eggs, thyme, blue cheese, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add the toasted bread cubes and stir until they’re evenly coated; allow the mixture to stand 10 minutes for thorough absorption.

- Divide the bread mixture between the two prepared ramekins. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with chicken.

I’ve never understood American chicken soup. It’s all broth and no meat, especially if it comes out of everyone’s favorite red-and-white can. And, what’s with the noodles? Limp, slippery, wormy. No, thank you.

The chicken soup I’m used to contains a whole chicken, which has to elbow its way  into a pot crowded with  potatoes, carrots, zucchini, wheels of corn-on-the-cob, and fragrant herbs. Just because you’re bedridden doesn’t mean that your soup needs to be weak and wobbly, too.

Craving the comfort of chicken soup but wanting some extra heat to ward off the relentless cold,  I took a cue from Mexican tortilla soups and added chiles to the base of the soup. I’ve also added hominy: processed, the hominy laces the soup with corn tortilla flavor and thickens it a bit, and toasted, it acts a garnish. The pièce de résistance are the chicken chicharrones. Rather than discard the chicken skin, I chop it and bake it along with the tortilla strips until they are bronzed and crisp. Ah-ah-ah—don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

SOPA DE POLLO PICANTITA

Serves 4 to 6

Hominy is dried corn kernels that have been treated with alkali to remove the hulls. It is sold canned in the Latin American or international aisle of most supermarkets. You can find dried chiles in that same aisle, although some  supermarkets carry them in the produce section.

In Step 4, I call for a blender because in a food processor, the liquid will leak out.

4 dried pasilla or guajillo chiles, wiped clean, stemmed and seeded
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 (14-ounce) cans hominy, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons minced chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1 quart homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
6 small corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
¼ teaspoon cumin
Garnishes (optional): cilantro, sour cream or crema, lime wedges, and/or sliced radishes

- Toast the chiles in a dry Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat, turning them over a few times with tongs, until they begin to soften and blister, about 2 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a plate.

- Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the now empty pot and heat it until it begins to smoke. Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and season them with salt, pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook the chicken, skin side down, until the skin is deep golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, skin-side up.

- Add half of the hominy to the empty pot and cook until deep golden, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate and season with salt. Tear the chiles into pieces and add them to the now empty pot along with the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chipotle, garlic, and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

- Place the tomatoes and half of the hominy in a blender and blend until smooth. To make room for the onions, transfer all but 2 cups of the tomato-hominy mixture to the empty tomato can. Add the cooked onion-chile mixture to the blender and blend until smooth. Transfer the blended tomato mixtures to the empty Dutch oven and simmer it over medium-low heat until it’s reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.

- Stir the stock into the pot. Remove and reserve the chicken skin and place the chicken pieces and any accumulated juices into the pot. Bring to a boil, then, reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and allow to cool.

- Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 450°F. Toss the tortilla strips with the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Coarsely chop the reserved chicken skin and toss with the tortilla strips. Bake, tossing with tongs halfway through cooking, until the tortilla strips are browned and crunchy and the chicken skin is crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer tortillas and chicken chicharrones to a paper towel lined plate; season to taste with salt and cumin.

- Remove the meat from the bones and return the chicken to the pot; cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Top with tortilla strips, chicharrones, toasted hominy, and any of the suggested garnishes.

I baked, frosted, and bedazzled 100 cookies to decorate a Christmas tree for Woman’s Day TV segment. I continue to find sprinkles embedded in my living room carpet.

Do you know, it takes an awfully long time to settle back in after being away for Christmas? No? Then you must be much more organized than I, although, I truly did putter about like new wind-up doll stocked with fresh batteries writing correspondence and making phone calls, taking on a Mount Everest-esque heap of laundry, sorting bills, picking sprinkles out from the carpet (see photo above), mailing out belated holiday gifts…Don’t look at me like that—I know I was delinquent in my elf duties. The worst of it is, I wrote a whole blog entry about how 2010 was the year when I would send out cards and presents in a timely fashion. Lump of coal in my stocking.

What did you do for the holidays? Lots of presents, clinking bubble-filled crystal, and manageable family brawls, I hope. For me, it was southern California, which was a complete washout. The sun refused to shine in its usual carefree way, the house windows looked like they were weeping. No matter—I got to spend some quality time with my mom in the kitchen*.  We cooked and baked every day, and, while this may seem like a non-vacation, we look forward to our time in the kitchen, and odd ducks that we are, actually enjoy doing the dishes.

And now, the pièce de résistance! Nicas, gather round and take notes, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a very special Christmas gift from me to you. My grandmother’s top-secret family recipe for relleno! My mamamá would surely murder me in my sleep for sharing, but she doesn’t use the internet…Does she?

For those non-compatriots, a brief explanation of Nicaraguan relleno:

Relleno means stuffing, but erase your mental pictures of American bread-cube stuffing and dressing because this version is of an entirely different genus and species. I’ve found no original recipe, no documentation on who made this recipe first, but relleno is a contentious subject to Nicas;  recipes are usually closely guarded and unique to each household.

Relleno is made by combining finely chopped pork (I’ve heard of people using chicken, but in my book, that’s sacrilege), panade, and many condiments and stirring everything in a pot for many hours. Mamamá’s recipe is famous and, when she was younger, used to be available for purchase. I remember her standing over a cauldron-like pot in the cement patio in her kitchen in Granada, arduously pushing against a broomstick of a spoon to prevent the bubbling mixture from sticking, beads of sweat wrung out by the deepening furrows in her brow. Granted, she was making at least sixty pounds’ worth, but relleno is labor intensive even in small batches.

Everything but the kitchen sink.

This year, my mom and I started with an insignificant two pounds of pork and it still required the use of two large pots and three hours of stirring. Relleno’s consistency is thick, but spreadable in the manner that rillette or refried beans are. Its color is deep, burnt sienna studded with the green and deep purple of olives, capers, and raisins. The flavor is a balanced blend of sweet, salty, and sour. In some areas of Nicaragua, on Christmas Eve the main event at dinner is a roast hen stuffed with relleno, but my family normally serves it alongside a more gringo roast turkey.

It makes up in flavor what it lacks in looks.

Without further ado, the recipe. ¡Les queda la receta para el año que viene!

RELLENO NAVIDENO CHAMORRO BARILLAS

You will need the largest mixing bowls in your kitchen, and your largest pots. I used a Dutch oven and a 12-inch skillet with straight sides. While the depth of the pots is important, it’s not as important as the surface area. Relleno will start as a pale, soupy mixture, but as it cooks, it will reduce and thicken. The larger the surface area of your pot, the more quickly it the relleno will achieve desired consistency.

This recipe is at its core, my grandmother’s, but in every household, seasonings and garnishes vary. In the ingredients list I call for a base amount, but you are free to add more or less salt, Worcestershire, olives, capers, etc., to taste. If this is your first time with the recipe, I recommend following it closely and, on your second and third tries, making additions and subtractions.

And please, don’t contact me if you choose to defile the recipe with outrageous additions like cumin or choose to start with raw ground pork. No. No. No.

For the base: Cooking the Pork
2 pounds pork loin, cut into 1½-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into quarters
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves

- Generously season the pork with salt and pepper. Place the pork in a Dutch oven or large pot along with onion, bell pepper, garlic, and bay leaves. Fill the pot with enough water to cover (2 to 3 quarts) and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the pork is cooked through, about 20 minutes, skimming the surface with a large spoon from time to time.

- With a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a large bowl. Strain the broth into a second large bowl and discard the cooked vegetables.

For the relleno
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes
2 loaves white sandwich bread, such as Wonder®, about 2 pounds total, torn into pieces
6 large eggs, well beaten
¼ cup Worcestershire, plus additional for seasoning to taste
½ cup sweet gherkins,  finely chopped
6 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus additional for seasoning to taste
1 pound unsalted butter
Salt
8 ounces raisins
1½ cups pimento stuffed green olives, liquid reserved
1 cup cocktail onions, drained
½ cup capers, drained

- Place the half of the cooked pork, onion pieces, green and yellow bell pepper pieces, garlic cloves, plum tomatoes and their liquid, and ½ cup of reserved broth in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining half of the pork, vegetables, and an additional ½ cup of reserved broth. Transfer to the large bowl with first batch.

- In a separate large bowl, combine the bread with 8 cups of reserved broth. Mash the mixture with a fork until the bread is completely dissolved. Thoroughly stir in the beaten eggs, Worcestershire sauce, gherkins, and sugar. Add the ground pork mixture and thoroughly combine.

- Divide the butter between two large, deep pots. Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Divide the relleno mixture between the two pots and begin stirring. After about 45 minutes of cooking, the relleno should begin to thicken and acquire a bronze tint. Stir in the raisins, olives, cocktail onions, and capers and continue to stir. Taste and season with salt, Worcestershire, and/or sugar (I like to add some of the reserved olive brine in lieu of salt). Two to three hours of stirring later, your mission is completed.

- Serve relleno as a side at the Christmas table. Leftovers are great on toast or crackers,  or may be frozen in a zipper-lock bag for up to two months.

*I say “quality.” Mom might have other qualifiers to describe the experience. Pobrecita.