CHICKEN DONE RIGHT
Club chefs share their top secrets for cooking this American favorite. You’ll never call it ‘rubber’ again.

What’s for dinner tonight? Despite the Beef Board’s commercials, it usually isn’t beef. There’s a good chance it’s chicken — the No. 1 animal protein consumed in America. As food writer Robin Barr Sussman’s wise grandmother (a great cook herself) once said, “A homemade roasted chicken will never let you down.” But that’s not the way many families feel when they are being served predictable chicken for dinner again.

Home cooks often feel equally jaded with chicken recipes that turn out dry or chewy instead of the expected juicy and mouth melting. We’ve all had our share of boring chicken breasts, also dubbed “rubber chicken” on the banquet circuit. Inquiring cooks want to know: How do professional chefs consistently create super chicken that is magically moist, tender, and tasty?

In the May/June issue of Private Clubs, Sussman talks with several chefs who reveal what makes their chicken dishes perfect every time. She also offers tips on poaching and safety, and provides a primer on the difference between organic and free range chicken.

But we know what you really want are some delectable recipes, and we start here with a recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken from Aliso Viejo Golf Club in Orange County, California. It is most definitely “done right.”

Photography by Greg Milano.