Paul Zerkel and Lisa Kirkpatrick's Goodkind Chicken

Recipes

Goodkind Chicken

By Paul Zerkel and Lisa Kirkpatrick

France is known for manufacturing the premier commercial chicken rotisserie. It’s under the name Rotisol and when you’re at Goodkind, you can catch a glimpse of their Rotisol in action. Better yet, order their rotisserie chicken and you’ll have one of the best chicken dishes you’ll ever eat. Co-owners Paul Zerkel and Lisa Kirkpatrick designed their menu around the rotisserie and the chicken has become the restaurant’s specialty. They’re sharing it here using a recipe that’s modified to accommodate a home oven. Its origins predate Goodkind. The married chefs were part of the team cooking for the 2013 wedding of Sanford Restaurant owners Justin and Sarah Aprahamian. It was Lisa who created the recipe. At Goodkind, which opened a year later, the chicken has come to represent a level of excellence across the board. “There's an old adage about chefs,” Paul says. “If you eat the chicken and they do a good job [with it], the rest of the kitchen falls in line, you know? So, if you have a good roast chicken, people will trust you.”

The recipe, you’ll notice, called for fennel pollen. That ingredient – the pollen that comes from the flowers of the fennel plant – is a holdover from their days living and cooking in Portland, Oregon. You can buy it on Amazon. Yeah, but why not use the more readily available crushed fennel seeds instead? Because the anise/licorice flavor is just more intense in the pollen. It’s more expensive than fennel seeds, but this is one of those instances where the splurge is worth it.

Ingredients

For 1 Chicken

GK Chicken Brine (for 1 chicken)

2 cups kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate

3 tablespoons fennel pollen

3 tablespoons chopped, fresh fennel fronds

Instructions

The day before cooking your chicken, you’ll “dry brine” the chicken, which is brining without a salt solution commonly found for other brining methods. Start by mixing the brine ingredients together. Our next step, which is only for this home method of cooking, is to remove the backbone of the chicken and press the chicken flat. This is called the “spatchcock” method and it allows us to cook the bird at a higher temperature, similar to what we see on our French rotisserie at GK.

Now, rub the chicken inside, outside, under the skin where possible and elsewhere. This is too much salt mix - you will not use all of it - so don’t fret about the extra that will inevitably fall off. If you use half, that should work just fine.

Place the now-dry brined chicken onto a wire rack, breast side up, over a sheet tray and into the fridge for a nice, overnight sleepover.

The next day, preheat your oven to 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Now there is no need to season the chicken more, as that was taken care of yesterday. Placing some aluminum foil onto the sheet tray under the wire rack will help make cleanup easier later. Place the chicken on its rack, breast side up and roast the chicken for about 35-45 minutes, or until the thickest part of the breast reaches 145 degrees and the joint between the leg and thigh reads 160 degrees. Now you’re all to the good.

A quick tip: When you are cutting the chicken into pieces and, inevitably, the precious juices and fats begin pooling onto the cutting board…DO NOT WIPE THEM UP! After placing the chicken onto your preferred serving platter, pour the reserved juices into a small bowl. Add minced garlic, shallots and parsley to the chicken fat, then add just a bit of fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Now, drizzle that vinaigrette around the chicken to serve. Bon appetit!

Bio

Paul Zerkel and Lisa Kirkpatrick – married chefs/co-owners of Goodkind restaurant – specialize in European cuisine, showcased at their cozy little corner on Milwaukee’s near South Side. Paul has been in the restaurant industry for 30-plus years. His career has taken him to kitchens in Portland, Oregon and Milwaukee to Italy, where he studied northern Italian and French cuisines. He prides himself on the rotisserie that is the centerpiece of the kitchen at Goodkind, where a variety of meats spin over seasonal vegetables and potatoes. Lisa has 25-plus years in the industry and has worked as a chef for 15 of those years. She headed Colosso, a well-respected Spanish tapas bar in Portland for eight years, where she honed her talents with trips to Spain, learning the culture as well as the cuisines of the Mediterranean. She is particularly known for her finesse in pastries, but her art in the savory fields continues to amaze diners. They both headed Milwaukee’s Roots Restaurant and Cellar, where they established many relationships with local farmers and artisans while helping to pave the way for the farm-to-table movement in the city.

Lisa Kirkpatrick and Paul Zerkel

Goodkind

Lisa Kirkpatrick and Paul Zerkel

Goodkind

About Goodkind

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