Phenomenal Roast Chickens with Melina Hammer | Saturday 11.02.24 @ 5pm
It's harvest time in the Hudson Valley and we're ready to celebrate its bounty with a feast of the highest order. Think fall hardy chicories, foraged mushrooms and abundant heirloom apples all in compliment to the main event!
In her book A Year at Catbird Cottage Melina touches on the notion that "there is unquestionable perfection in a well-roasted chicken." And so we embark on a mission together to take the too-often mundane act of roasting a chicken and elevate it to the sublime.
Melina's thoughtful attention to detail is both calming and inspiring. The manner in which she shares her recipes is comforting and familial--as if being passed down from one generational kitchen to the next. We are so thrilled to welcome her back for what can only be described as the height of good eating!
On the menu:
with bracing vinaigrette
with leeks and hen of the woods mushrooms
ABOUT THE CHEF
Melina is the IACP award-winning author of A Year at Catbird Cottage (2022, Ten Speed Press), a love letter to food's seduction and eating with the seasons. She is also a food stylist, recipe developer, chef, and food photographer, and the owner of Catbird Cottage in upstate New York, where she and her husband host travelers who have made their home the place to celebrate their special moments.
A Year at Catbird Cottage received a 2023 IACP award for Best Food Photography & Styling, and was named an Amazon Editor's Pick upon its debut. Her previous book, Kid Chef (2016, Sonoma Press) is a bestseller, empowering young people in the kitchen, and appeared in the Disney movie Noelle (2019), starring Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, and Shirlely MacLaine.
Melina has appeared on podcasts including Cookery by the Book, Play Me a Recipe, Of a Certain Age, and Creative Live We are Photographers. She has contributed to Bon Appetit, Food52, The New York Times, Cooking Light, Eating Well, The Kitchn, Edible, Martha Stewart, and Row 7 Seeds. In 2018, Melina won an IACP award for Best Food Styling, and in 2020, was nominated as an IACP finalist for her Instagram, @melinahammer.
Above all, Melina relishes in preparing delicious menus for supper clubs she hosts at her cottage. She loves foraging wild foods, growing food in her kitchen garden, tending her pollinator gardens, and hanging out on her hillside deck, watching the antics of the local wildlife.