烹飪達人宣言 附整隻燒雞食譜

Just cook. That is the message of the moment, the act to embrace. Just cook dinner. It is a habit as easy to form as a bad one, and more beneficial by far.

做飯吧。它是當下的潮流，是受歡迎的行爲。做晚餐吧。這個好習慣跟壞習慣一樣容易養成，而且到目前爲止人們發現它益處多多。

Of course, home cooking can be stressful, particularly during the week. Never mind the time spent at the stove. There is also the time spent planning, and the time spent shopping: invisible labor, more taxing than it seems. And then someone has soccer practice. Or the traffic is heavy. Someone needs to work late. Time famine grasps us all.

當然，在家做飯會讓人覺得有壓力，特別是在工作日。先別提花在爐竈邊的時間。計劃和購買食材都需要花時間：這些無形的勞動實際上更費力。再加上交通擁堵。有人要去練踢足球，有人要加班。所有的人都沒時間。

We are here to help. This issue of Dining is dedicated to the core promise of a new website and iPad app that The New York Times introduced last week called Cooking. Built on a foundation of more than 16,000 old and new recipes in the Times archives, the site and app are designed for cooks of all talents, from beginning to expert. The mission: to make each one of us a better cook.

我們是來幫助你的。《紐約時報》上週推出了一個名爲“烹飪”(Cooking)的新網站和iPad應用程序。這一期的《美食》(Dining)是爲了實現“烹飪”的核心承諾。“烹飪”以《紐約時報》檔案庫裏的1.6萬多個新老食譜爲基礎，面向各種水平的廚師，不管是新手還是行家。我們的目標是讓每個人都更會做飯。

So just cook and see what happens. Gather family or friends to your table and serve them hot food. Maybe it helps the children do better in school. (Studies suggest it.) Maybe it strengthens relationships. (Likewise.) Demonstrably (as you will see!) it is more pleasant than a microwaved stew or takeout curry or a pizza delivered from miles away. Cheaper, too.

你只管去做，看看會發生什麼。把家人和朋友聚集到你的餐桌前，給他們奉上熱騰騰的食物。也許它能幫助孩子們在學校表現得更好（有研究可以證明這一點）。也許它能增進感情（也有研究可以證明）。很明顯（你會看到的！），它比用微波爐做的砂鍋菜、外賣咖喱飯或從幾英里外送來的披薩更令人愉快。而且也更便宜。

Here is one way to get started: Imagine a chicken smothered in gravy, cooked on the stove top, served with white rice and steamed green beans with a pat of butter. It is as pleasant a meal as a September night can offer, and simple to prepare.

你可以這樣開始：想像一隻雞淹沒在肉汁裏，放在爐子上烹製，然後和白米飯、蒸扁豆、一小塊黃油一起上桌。它能帶給你一個美妙的九月之夜，而且易於烹製。

The shopping is a breeze. Go to the market for a chicken of moderate size. Get an organic one because it will taste better. Ask the butcher to take out the backbone if you’re nervous about doing that yourself. This isn’t a time for more courage than is called for in the preparation of a midweek meal. (A bird with its backbone removed has been “spatchcocked,” and you can lay it out flat in a pan. If you want to know how to do that yourself, there is a short instructional video and other tips on cooking techniques at

購買食材也很容易。去市場買一隻中等大小的雞。請買有機的，因爲味道會更好。如果你不敢去骨，那就讓肉販幫你做這件事。你不需要拿出比烹製一頓普通週中晚餐更多的勇氣來做這道菜（去除骨頭的雞可以洗淨即煮，可以把它攤在平底鍋上。如果你想知道自己如何去除骨頭，可以在找到一個簡短的指導視頻和其他烹飪技巧小貼士）。

Buy some unsalted butter and, if you don’t have any, a small amount of flour. You probably have salt and pepper. Maybe there is some chicken stock in your freezer or refrigerator. If not, pick up some at the store, the low-sodium kind, better in all ways than its over-salty cousin in a can or cube. You need little else.

買點不加鹽的黃油。如果沒有面粉的話，就買一點。你很可能有鹽和胡椒。你冰箱的冷凍室或冷藏室裏可能有雞肉高湯。如果沒有的話，在商店裏買點高湯，低鈉的那種，它從各方面都比罐裝或塊狀的過鹹的雞湯要好。其他東西基本上不需要買了。

The recipe is a classic, in a collection we’re calling Times Classics, and it comes from Craig Claiborne, a child of Mississippi who started as food editor of The Times in 1957 and did as much as anyone to help bring home cooking into the spotlight. The dish “belongs in the ‘comfort’ category,” he wrote in 1983, “a food that gives solace to the spirit when you dine on it.”

這個食譜非常經典，選自我們所稱的“紐時經典”(Times Classics)系列菜譜，出自克雷格·克萊本(Craig Claiborne)之手。他出生於密西西比州，從1957年開始擔任《紐約時報》的美食編輯，爲公衆關注家庭烹飪做出了極大的努力。1983年他寫道，這道菜“是‘慰藉’型的，是那種食用時能帶來精神安慰的食物”。

Doesn’t that sound good? You could give your smothered chicken some European flair with mushrooms and small onions in the gravy, as Claiborne did in his experiments with Pierre Franey, then his kitchen co-pilot. Or you could send yourself south to the Creole tastes of the Delta, with a blend of tomatoes, chopped celery, onion and green peppers added to the sauce. They wrote recipes for both.

是不是聽起來很棒？你可以在肉汁中加入蘑菇和小洋蔥，讓這道燜雞帶一點歐洲風味，克萊本和他當時的副手皮埃爾·弗雷尼(Pierre Franey)曾這樣嘗試過。或者可以在醬汁中加入番茄、碎芹菜、洋蔥和青椒，讓它帶有南方三角洲的克里奧爾風味。這兩種菜譜他們都寫過。

Sometimes the easiest way is the best.

有時最簡單的做法是最好的。

First, select a pan in which to cook. Claiborne believed a cast-iron skillet to be essential to the dish’s success, probably in part for nostalgic reasons and absolutely because cast iron conducts heat so evenly and well. But any heavy-bottomed pan large enough to hold the chicken will do. Set it over medium heat, and add a couple of tablespoons of butter. As it melts and starts to foam, salt and pepper the chicken. Then add it to the pan, skin side down, and turn the heat to low.

首先，選個平底鍋烹製。克萊本認爲鑄鐵長柄平底煎鍋對這道菜的成功至關重要，選這種鍋可能是因爲懷舊，但絕對是因爲鑄鐵傳熱快而均勻。不過其實所有能放下整隻雞的大深底鍋都可以。把鍋放在中火上加熱，加入幾湯匙黃油。等黃油融化開始起泡時，給雞肉撒上鹽和胡椒。然後把雞放到鍋裏，帶皮的一面朝下，調成小火。

Now, a technique straight out of Claiborne’s mother’s playbook: Put an inverted plate on top of the chicken and weight it down with a full can of tomatoes or beans, a foil-wrapped brick or a small dumbbell — something heavy enough to press the skin of the chicken into the heated surface.

下面，我要介紹克萊本媽媽的一個訣竅：在雞肉上反着放一個盤子，在上面放一整罐番茄或豆子、用箔紙包起來的磚塊、一個小啞鈴，或者任何能把雞皮壓向加熱的鍋面的重物。

Cooking is patience. Cooking is trust. The low heat of the stove combined with the butter and the rendering fat of the chicken will slowly turn the skin golden brown and crisp, so that it releases easily from the pan. At which point you will turn the chicken over, carefully, and cook it some more. (Use the downtime to make rice and prepare your green beans.) Then, the smothering. When the chicken has cooked through, take it out of the pan and pour off all but a couple of tablespoons of the fat in the pan, and make a quick gravy.

烹飪需要耐心，需要信任。爐子的低溫與黃油以及雞肉本身的脂肪相結合，會慢慢把雞皮變得金黃酥脆，這樣你就能輕鬆地把它從平底鍋裏取出來（用這段時間做米飯和扁豆）。然後是燜制。雞肉熟透之後，從鍋中取出，把鍋裏的肥油倒掉一些，只留幾湯匙，用它快速做個肉汁。

There is no need to panic at that command. Simply sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour into the hot fat and stir it around with a whisk for a few minutes, allowing the raw taste of the flour to diminish. Then hit the resulting roux with a cup or so of chicken stock, whisking until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.

不必爲這個指令感到慌張。在熱的肥油上撒幾湯匙麪粉，攪拌幾分鐘，去除麪粉的生味。然後在麪糊中加入一杯左右的雞湯，攪拌至變稠。加入鹽和胡椒調味。

Return the chicken to the pan with the gravy and allow it to cook yet a little while longer, until it is ridiculously tender, almost coming off the bones. Then remove to a cutting board, hack into pieces and place on a platter. Spoon some of the gravy over the top and serve the rest on the side, with the rice and vegetables.

把雞肉放回帶有肉汁的鍋中，燜的時間稍微長一點，直至雞肉變得很嫩，幾乎要從骨頭上掉下來。然後移到案板上，切成片，放到大淺盤上。在上面澆一些肉汁，把剩下的肉汁和米飯、蔬菜放在旁邊。

This is weekday cooking to remember and, we hope, the start of a glorious journey toward the delicious.

這是值得紀念的工作日烹飪，我們希望它能幫你開啓美妙的美食之旅。

RECIPE

菜譜：

INGREDIENTS

配料：

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds, spatchcocked (split down the backbone, breast left intact and unsplit)

1只雞，約3.5磅，去除脊骨，雞胸保持完整

Kosher salt, to taste

粗鹽，調味用

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

現磨胡椒，調味用

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2湯匙不加鹽的黃油

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2湯匙通用麪粉

1 ½ cups chicken broth, ideally homemade

1.5杯雞湯，最好是自制的

PREPARATION

製作過程：

1. Craig Claiborne believed a cast-iron skillet to be essential for the authentic preparation of this dish. Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Select a skillet large enough to hold the chicken comfortably when it is opened up, as for broiling. Fold wings under to secure them.

1. 在雞肉兩面撒上鹽和胡椒。選一個能輕鬆放下整隻雞的大長柄平底鍋。把雞翅摺疊在下面。

2. Melt the butter in the pan and add the chicken, skin side down. Cover chicken with a plate that will fit comfortably inside the skillet. Place a heavy can, stone or brick on top of the plate to weigh it down. Cook over low heat, checking the chicken skin, until it is nicely browned, about 25 minutes.

2. 讓黃油在鍋裏融化，加入雞肉，雞皮朝下。用一個大小合適的盤子反着蓋住雞肉。在盤子上放一個沉重的罐子、石頭或磚塊，以增加向下的壓力。用小火加熱，查看雞皮，直至它變成好看的金黃色，約需25分鐘。

3. Remove weight and plate. Turn chicken so skin side is up. Replace plate and weight and continue cooking for about 15 minutes more.

3. 去除重物和盤子。把雞肉翻過來，讓雞皮朝上。重新放上盤子和重物，再煎約15分鐘。

4. Remove chicken and pour off fat from the skillet, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the flour to the fat, stirring with a wire whisk over medium heat. Gradually add the chicken broth and, when thickened, return chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with the plate and weight and continue cooking over low heat about 20 to 30 minutes longer or until the meat is exceptionally tender. Spoon the sauce over it.

4. 把雞肉移走，倒掉煎鍋裏的一部分肥油，在鍋裏留約兩湯匙。在肥油中加入麪粉，用攪打器攪拌，用中火加熱。慢慢加入雞湯攪拌，變稠後把雞肉放回鍋中，雞皮朝上。加入鹽和胡椒調味。蓋上盤子和重物，繼續用小火加熱20至30分鐘，直至雞肉變得很嫩。用勺子舀醬汁澆在上面。

5. Cut chicken into serving pieces, and serve with the sauce and fluffy rice on the side.

5. 把雞肉切成片上桌，在旁邊放上剩下的醬汁和蓬鬆的米飯。