Recipe Thu Apr 17 2008

Engagement Chicken

I happened to pick up a copy of Glamour magazine yesterday--at a hair salon, of course. And in the front of the mag, it may even have been the letters page, there was a recipe for Engagement Chicken. According to the lore, the recipe has been floating around the Glamour offices for 26 years, and passed from assistant to assistant until each one prances happily down the aisle. A Google search proves that the recipe is indeed legendary; there's a Chowhound message board about it, which reveals the original recipe came from cookbook author Marcella Hazan, specifically from her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Other food bloggers wonder if a simple roast chicken is really enough to convince a man to marry, not only because it's a huge and scary commitment, but also because it's not a very sophisticated dish. A lot of single men can probably roast their own chickens. Is the way to a man's heart really a trussed chicken?

- Lori