• 1 whole chicken - Because it's more important than ever to pay attention to things like food miles, I try to choose locally raised, free range chicken from one of the growing number of organic farms in my area. I know this isn't possible for everyone, but if you can swing a couple of extra dollars you'll be saving a whole lot more in terms of carbon emissions and oil/gas consumption -- and you'll be supporting local families and your local economy. Just something to think about.
• 1-2 whole fresh lemons, halved
• a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• ground paprika
• rosemary
• garlic powder
• (or you can use Alchemy Spice's Easygoin' Seasoned Salt or another chicken rub blend)
• 1 roasting pan

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
2. While the oven is heating up, take a small bowl and blend 2 tablespoons of paprika with a tablespoon of garlic powder and one of rosemary, plus a good pinch of salt. Skip this step if you're using a blend like I do (and if you do decide to jump on the roast chicken wagon, you'll probably want to find a favorite blend - it will save you a good 5 minutes).
3. Remove the bag of "innards" and other jiggly bits from inside the cavity of the chicken. I tend to dispose of these - though if you have a special recipe for them, go for it by all means!
4. Place the chicken 'backbone up' on the roasting pan, then stick the lemon halves inside the chicken cavity. I usually end up using about 3 halves though if the chicken is larger (or smaller) you may use all 4 halves or only 2. (Note: If you do have an extra lemon half left, you can always rub the cut-end over the outside of the chicken and squeeze a little of the juice over the skin (stick in in the microwave for about 30 seconds before you do this and you'll find you get about 10 times more juice out of it)).
5. Use a small length of chicken string to tie the two drumstick ends together to 'close' the cavity and keep the lemons in.  
6. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil (to taste) over the chicken, then pour some of the spice rub mix into your hand and rub it all over the chicken. If you've got any sort of repulsion to touching a naked chicken, this is where you'll just have to get over it - or else abort mission, speed-dial the chinese takeaway and  try again tomorrow.
7. Once you've rubbed the olive oil and spice mix well into the chicken (make sure you get as many nooks and crannies as you can!), place the chicken on a middle shelf in the oven.
8. Leave it on 400 for about 45 minutes to really get the skin to crisp up, then turn the oven down to 375 for another 45 minutes to an hour.
9. If you have a meat thermometer, use that as your guide. If not, look for the chicken to take on a beautiful, golden brown - the color of summer barley - and for the juices to run totally clear when you prick it with a knife (no cloudiness).
10. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it "rest" for a good 10 or 15 minutes covered loosely in a tent of aluminium foil.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I just got a request for these two Modern Girls Kitchen images (hosted on my Flickr page) to be featured in this article on NowPublic. Pretty neat stuff!

Profiteroles are one of the most deceptively glam desserts you can possibly make. Period. They look as if they take hours to prepare – but they’re actually so quick and easy to make – and so absolutely delicious, they’ve become my go-to dessert for those occasions (like this Mother’s Day) when I need something special, but not necessarily time-consuming or complicated.

The real effort (if there is any) in profiteroles comes with making the pastry puffs. But if you don’t over-think it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easily they come together. The puffs are created with choux pastry – a French pastry that’s also used for cream puffs and chocolate éclairs, so once you’ve mastered the profiterole, it’s very easy to venture further into the world of patisserie using this same recipe and a few simple variations.

Choux Pastry Puffs for Profiteroles

You’ll need a good non-stick saucepan (I have a Calphalon saucepan that works beautifully for these) as you actually make this pastry, in part, over heat – and a non-stick makes all the difference when you add the flour and form the basic dough.

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1-cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ sticks butter
• 1-cup milk (I use whole, 2% or reduced fat but not skim)
• pinch of salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat.
3. Add the milk as the butter is melting and bring them to a scald (not boiling but very hot)
4. Using a spatula or a wooden spoon, stir in the flour. It will look like a lumpy mess for a few seconds but keep stirring – the mixture will quickly form a dough.
5. Pour the dough mixture into the food processor and mix in the egg yolks one at a time, along with the pinch of salt. (If you haven’t got a food processor, as I didn’t for many years, a large mixing bowl, a strong wooden spoon and some arm muscle will do the trick just fine!).
6. Mix in the egg yolks until the dough is thick.
7. Place the dough in the sleeve of a pastry bag and pipe small rounds onto the baking sheet. Alternately – and I find this way to be faster, easier and just as effective – create small “puffs” of dough using two dessert spoons. (“Puffs” should measure about 1” to 1.5” across).
8. Bake on 400F for 20 minutes until puffs have risen and are golden. Turn off oven and let them rest for 10 more minutes.
9. Remove from oven and use a sharp knife to cut a small horizontal slit in the side of each puff (this helps the steam escape).
10. Set on cooling rack until ready for use. (Puffs can be frozen for a few weeks).

Chocolate Profiterole Sauce

What You Need

• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ - ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla essence

(NOTE: You’ll also need a pint or more of your favourite vanilla ice cream!)

What You Do

1. Melt chocolate chips and whipped cream together in a double-boiler (see Chocolate Orange Hot Fudge Honey Sauce for how-to).
   
2. As the chocolate melts, stir in the honey and vanilla essence. Keep stirring until all ingredients have melted and the sauce has become a gorgeous, silky smooth gloss.

To Serve Your Profiteroles…
Depending upon their size, take two or three puffs and fill them with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream (if you prefer, you can also fill them with thick whipped cream). Pour chocolate sauce over each puff and serve immediately.

Options & Alternatives…You can use the same pastry puffs to create Cream Puffs. You can also incorporate shredded cheese into the choux pastry recipe for savory pastry puffs that can be filled to create all kinds of bite-sized hors d’oeuvres!

Archive Note: I first wrote about profiteroles in "Behold the Profiterole" on Modern Girls Kitchen in September, 2005. Check out the original entry here.