Guy Roeseler's Guy’s Pickin’ Chicken

Recipes

Guy’s Pickin’ Chicken

By Guy Roeseler

This dish – “Pickin” Chicken – came from the days Guy Roeseler was working alongside a chef named John Rios. They made it and it continues its run at Ono Kine Grindz. This is a basic roasted chicken – well, some say basic. Roeseler never tires of it. “I love the broth, with herbs and lemon. We all attack it!” he says of his staff. It’s also one of his favorite things to make, not to mention “a whole dinner in one pot.” Intimidated by roasting a whole chicken? This recipe might soften you up.

My favorite employee go-to meal ... savor the wonderful broth with warm French bread and unsalted butter!

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 large roasting chicken, rinsed

1 quart chicken stock

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 pounds small potatoes, whole

2 pounds peeled carrots, cut in half

2 lemons, *1 sliced, 1 whole

*2 bunches cilantro, chopped

*1/4 cup garlic, chopped

2 fennel bulbs, cut in eighths

1 cup sundried tomatoes.

*2 tablespoons sea salt

*1 tablespoon ground pepper

Instructions

Rinse the chicken and slice between the skin and the bottom of the breast enough to stuff in the starred (*) ingredients. Add the whole lemon into the empty body cavity. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and hold the legs together with twine or bamboo picks. Press the wings into body. Fill the pan with the vegetables and potatoes. Pour liquid over everything and salt and pepper the skin.

Cover and cook at about 400 degrees until the internal temperature is over 165 degrees.

Remove the cover or foil and return to the oven to crisp and brown the skin for between 15 and 20 minutes. Serve in the roaster sliced and ready to pick at!

Don't forget the warm French bread and unsalted butter to sop up the broth you made! Enjoy.

Bio

Guy Roeseler calls himself an “accidental” chef. During high school and college, he did various entry-level work to pay the bills. He enjoyed it and it came naturally to him. Several employers took him under their wing, teaching and encouraging him. Chef Claus Bienek, founder of the old Milwaukee restaurant Claus on Juneau, was the first one to offer him more formal training. Roeseler accompanied Bienek to wine and cognac tastings while learning knife skills and garlic peeling at his restaurant in between Roeseler waiting tables. In Seattle, chef John Rios shared with him his extensive knowledge of practical French and Mediterranean cooking. Roeseler took over Rios’ restaurant, Cafe Sabika. There, he honed his skills through trial and error for the next 10 years. He managed restaurants in Honolulu, but he didn’t really master local-style Hawaiian plate lunch food until he was back in Milwaukee, where Roeseler and his partner, David Lau, opened Ono Kine Grindz. He also credits PBS and its cavalcade of culinary talent and personalities. Jacques Pepin, Julia (of course), Lidia, Jamie Oliver and “Yan Can Cook” always inspired him to always experiment with passion.

Guy Roeseler

Ono Kine Grindz

Guy Roeseler

Ono Kine Grindz

About Ono Kine Grindz

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