52 Comments
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Ofifoto's avatar

Oh my goodness. I am exploring your archives and all I want to do now is cook everything.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

That's so kind of you to say. Thanks for exploring more of my work.

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Michael Procopio's avatar

I have never wanted a butter more than I want this butter.

Please do Beefy Chicken next, Wil.

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Feasts and Fables's avatar

That is quite THE most remarkable recipe which I shall be nudging Mrs Feasts to recreate. Hell, I may just give it a go myself! Lush! Thank you for your generosity in sharing it. Now, about the next Hobbit film, casting begins in ...

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Wil Reidie's avatar

I'd love to know what you think of the butter if you give it a try. It's a great ingredient. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off for second dinner and a smoke with Gandalf.

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Feasts and Fables's avatar

One Butter to Rule Them All. Mind you, I remember Gareth Ward’s Miso Butter at Ynyshir being a thing of beauty. And we are well-known for serving toast with ‘an embarrassment of butter’, the only way!

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Ah, memories. Miso butter was one of the first recipes I was tasked with making as a commis in London. Lovely stuff.

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Tamara Hawkesford's avatar

Hyvää Joulukuuta to you and your family.

As a big fan of butter this looks amazing. Not sure I'll have time this evening for the butter but I am already elevating my dinner to include panko breadcrumbs.

And I have learnt a new word that I hope to use a lot, Husmanskost like cucina povera, humble foods, filled with nostalgia and a sense of place. I hope you and your family love you new space.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Thank you so much, Tamara. Ja hyvää joulukuuta sinulle. Sinun suomenkieli on niin hyvä! And thanks so much for your support. It means so much!!

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Max Brearley's avatar

Erm, chicken skin butter. Yes please! There's a cult sandwich at Africola in Adelaide. "CRISPY CHICKEN TEA SANDWICH WITH PERI PERI DRIPPINGS" which uses crisp chicken skin, and you dip in the dripping. It is insanely good.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

I've googled and am looking at a picture of it right now. Very elegant presentation. Sounds lovely.

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Max Brearley's avatar

A much copied dish here a few years ago

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Hanne Blank Boyd's avatar

Among my people, the analogue to this is gribenes (crispy rendered strips of chicken skin) with schmaltz (rendered chicken fat). This is the luxe, non kosher version!

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Wow. Currently reading about GLT sandwiches and getting very hungry.

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Hanne Blank Boyd's avatar

They're *so* good. My dad's mother used to fry the gribenes in schmaltz that she had cooked onions and garlic in, so they had extra juju.

I confess I am now thinking about a pot-roasted cauliflower with your chicken skin butter.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

I love the word. Gribenes. Never heard it before. I have a rather large amount of this butter now of course. It keeps well so maybe a roasted cauliflower for us as well this week.

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Starbie B.'s avatar

I’ve had chicken skin butter before and it’s amazing. The picture of your crispy chicken reminded me of schnitzel, which is one of my favorite dishes. I’m excited to try this!

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Thanks! I had a proper pork schnitzel in cologne, Germany years ago. A great memory. I hope you like this if you try it, Starbie!!

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Frank Canzolino's avatar

I look forward to your Moon Pie recipe...

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Haha. You know a friend once gave me a Star Trek cookbook. Might be time to dust it off.

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Frank Canzolino's avatar

Funny, in a similar vein, I was given The Soprano Family Cookbook...

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Ah, but do you have any recipes that can beat Captain Kirk's Plomeek soup?

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Andee D.'s avatar

The dish is so beautiful, the post even more so. Thank you.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

You're very kind, Andee. Thanks for reading!!

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Jenny Clark's avatar

Crispy chicken is my ultimate comfort food. Also, congrats on the move! I happen to be moving to a new place this week too :)

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Wil Reidie's avatar

It might be my favourite thing to eat in the world.

Good luck with the move! We started moving stuff in this week but won't move properly until January. Are you moving far? We are moving to a different city so it'll be quite a change.

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Jenny Clark's avatar

Just about 30 minutes away! So not a huge change but we're going from a neighborhood with pretty basic restaurants to an area with lots of good food so I'm stoked. I've actually never lived outside of California but would love to visit your part of the world sometime. (Maybe when its a little warmer haha)

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Wil Reidie's avatar

It's pretty brutal this time of year. It's gonna be -13°c tomorrow. But summer is so beautiful here. I'd recommend it to anyone. Also, what you said about restaurants sounds very similar. We currently live in this little city called Pori (nice but very basic restaurants) but Turku where we're moving is something of Finland's modern food capital.

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Jenny Clark's avatar

Oof hard to imagine that kinda chill from sunny LA but there is something dreamy about a white Christmas. Sounds like a great move! Excited for you :)

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Martini Glambassador's avatar

Chicken skin butter is inspired! Although, I’m not gonna lie, it would take a lot for me to not just gobble (you see what I did there 😉) up the crispy rendered chicken skin straight out of the oven.

Good luck in your new abode!

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Haha, gobble gobble.

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Johnnie Peter-Hoblyn's avatar

This why I love Substack , if you are interested / passionate about the subject then like-minded people can connect and share ideas

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Couldn't agree more. It's a genuine thrill to have this opportunity to connect with people all over the world.

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Johnnie Peter-Hoblyn's avatar

Another great reason to butcher a whole chicken is collecting enough offcuts ( neck fillet , skirt , parson’s nose etc) for Yakitori ! Love the chicken skin butter

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Wil Reidie's avatar

In a previous draft I made a bigger point about how butchering the whole bird gives you more of the bird as well, but you made the point really well. But I admit, I've never had the parsons nose. Will give it a go next time.

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Adam Reaves's avatar

Going to use this for family meal at the restaurant. And an observatory!? How freaking cool is that?

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Perfect family meal material, chef. And I'm not lying, having the observatory there was probably a bigger factor in my choosing the place than it should've been.

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Adam Reaves's avatar

No doubt! Have you had a talk with anyone yet to see if they will let you come and a take a peak at what they’re looking at? And I can only imagine the night sky! So happy for you!

That chicken skin butter is going to reign supreme for the family meal. We have a wine dinner Tuesday and the left duck confit is going onto a bunch of French fries. We eat like children here, but classy in some ways.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

This is the best part! You pay something like 20€ a year to become a member and you can go every Friday night to use it on their members evening. I can't wait. PS that duck and fries sounds good enough to me my friend.

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Karl Straub's avatar

This one went immediately into my archive.

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Karl, you're a beautiful human being. Thanks for reading!!

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Karl Straub's avatar

If wanting to stuff a bunch of delicious fried chicken into my face makes me a beautiful human being, then-- guilty as charged!

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Jolene Handy's avatar

This looks so delicious, Wil! Congratulations on your new home and how cool to be neighbors with an observatory. All the best!

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Wil Reidie's avatar

Thanks Jolene. Really excited about the move, it's a really lovely city. And my little boy is so excited about the stargazing which just fills my heart!

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Jolene Handy's avatar

How wonderful! ✨💫

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