re: WFDT

I did a pork tenderloin for the Saints game. Lightly rubbed with Cajun and Indian spices and then smoked over hickory wood until about 140 degrees. Served with a bit of orange confiture for those so inclined. How'd you do yours?

That sounds delicious.

Mine was just in the oven. Garlic-herb type seasoning, seared and removed, cooked down onions and garlic, returned loin to pan and added liquid, popped into oven for 10m, flipped, 10 more mins, let rest until it reached 145-150 internal temp.

The one you posted from NYT. It was very good. I made a few minor tweaks. I marinated my chicken for 24hrs, not just overnight. I didn't have Pernod/Pastis, so I used 1/4 cup Sambuca and 1/4 cup Brandy. I doubled up on the carrots. And I added a tablespoon of Gochujang paste and a tablespoon of tomato paste, in addition to some dry Cajun spice. Also, I did use the green beans, but I'd recommend doing without. Adding them last minute like the recipe calls for doesn't allow for enough incorporation with the rest of the dish, IMO.

And, yes, I absolutely did use a pinch of saffron I'd recently brought back from Spain, which adds a whole new dimension to the dish. Very good stuff.

Yeah, what I did was I didn't pat the chicken dry as the recipe suggested after marinating. I just let it sit for a minute in a strainer and then began browning the batches in my frying pot. I did switch to a Dutch oven when I began sautéing my onions. While it was tough to discard the flavor that had built up in my frying pot, I was worried with all of the browning you have to do that the residue would be a bit much.

Because I didn't pat my chicken dry, it still had plenty of saffron flavor even after browning. As a result, I withheld the second pinch the recipe recommends. That's probably a matter of personal preference, but the single pinch I used had already become very aromatic, so I decided to do without an additional pinch later in the cooking process.

I used 67% breasts and 33% thighs. I'm already contemplating making this again with game birds. I think that would be a tasty interpretation of the dish.