Two signature recipes from Big Sur Bakery’s top culinarian talent.

Neither half of Big Sur Bakery’s power couple, Philip and Michelle Wojtowicz, hesitates long to recommend a recipe to publish from a book that took longer to gestate than their 5-month-old son, Henry.

“Brown butter rhubarb bars,” says Michelle, the baker. “Because I love rhubarb, really. People bring me big old batches and I started trying to figure it out, and really loved it.”

For Philip the answer is even more immediate. “The roast half chicken,” he says. “You know a kitchen by its chicken.”

Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars

INGREDIENTS

For the rhubarb jam:

1 cup sugar

Grated zest and juice of 2 blood oranges

½ vanilla bean

4 rhubarb stalks, cut into ½ inch pieces

For the crust:

1 cup unsalted butter

½ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

For the brown butter filling:

3 eggs

1 ¼ cups sugar

Grated zest of 2 oranges

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ vanilla bean

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

(Makes 1 dozen bars)

To prepare the rhubarb jam: Place the sugar, blood orange zest and juice in a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife, scrape out the pulp with the back of the knife, put the pulp and the pod in the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking until the faintest bit of caramel color starts to appear around the edge of the pot. Add the rhubarb. Continue to cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the rhubarb turns into a smooth jam, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the jam (discarding the vanilla bean) to a separate dish to cool while you make the crust and filling.

Make the crust next: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking frequently. Cook until the butter separates and the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty, about 5 minutes. Pour the hot brown butter into a dry bowl and freeze until solid, about 30 minutes. Place the powdered sugar and flour in a bowl and mix to combine. Take out the frozen butter and cut it into small cubes. Mix the cubes into the flour mixture, using a pastry cutter to break up the butter until large crumbs start to form. Work the crumbs together into a crumbly dough with both hands, and place it in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Press the dough firmly with the bottom of a glass to make sure the crust evenly covers the entire bottom of the dish. Chill the crust in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the crust is chilling, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake the crust for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Let it cool before assembling the bars. (Leave the oven on.)

While the crust is cooling, make the brown butter filling: Whisk together the eggs, sugar, orange zest, and flour in a medium bowl. Split and scrape the vanilla bean just as you did for the rhubarb jam, and put the pulp and the pod in a medium saucepan. Add the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter separates and the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty. (Discard the vanilla bean.) Carefully add the warm brown butter to the egg mixture, whisking constantly until all the butter is incorporated.

To assemble the bars, spread half of the brown butter filling over the cooled baked crust. Spoon large dollops of the rhubarb jam over the filling, reserving a quarter of the jam. Spread the remaining brown butter filling over the rhubarb, and finish by spooning smaller dollops of the reserved jam randomly over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is deep golden brown. Remove the dish from the oven and let it cool completely.

Cut into 3-inch squares and serve.

Roasted Chicken

|INGREDIENTS

1 free-range organic chicken, 3 to 4 pounds

2 cups kosher salt

½ cup light brown sugar

2 bay leaves

5 black peppercorns

1 lemon, sliced into coins

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 celery stalks

(Serves 2)

Carefully debone the legs and thighs while leaving them attached to the chicken.

Fill a large pot with 5 quarts water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat. Add the salt, brown sugar, bay leaves, and peppercorns and stir until the salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Set the brine aside and cool completely.

Once the brine has cooled, put the chicken in the pot and set a heavy plate on top of it to keep it submerged. Cover the pot with plastic wrap, put it in the refrigerator, and let it sit for 8 to 12 hours.

Pull the chicken out of the brine, rinse it under cold running water, and pat it dry with paper towels. Discard the brine. Leave the chicken out until it comes to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Using your fingers to separate the skin from the meat, slide a lemon slice, a few garlic slices, and 1 teaspoon of parsley leaves under the skin of each breast. Put the remaining lemon slices, garlic slices, and parsley leaves in the chicken cavity. Close the cavity by crossing the legs and securing them together with a wooden or metal skewer.

Brush the chicken with the olive oil. Cut each celery stalk in half crosswise. In a roasting pan, arrange the celery pieces in a line like ties on a railroad track (you’re creating a base to prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan). Lay the chicken right on top of the celery. Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, until the skin starts to develop a tan color. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and roast for another 50 to 60 minutes, until its internal temperature is 165 degrees F. (Use a meat thermometer to take the temperature, inserting it between the breast and the thigh and making sure it isn’t touching the bone.) Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

To split the chicken in half, separate the breasts by making a long cut along the spine with a sharp knife to reveal the bone. Carefully carve each breast off the carcass and cut the joint that keeps the wing bone attached, while keeping the breast connected to the leg and thigh. Transfer to a serving platter or two separate plates, and serve immediately.