Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Chicken...It's What's for Dinner!

Whose roast chicken will reign supreme? Why yours of course!

This is so easy and so yummy. It's the cheapest form of chicken and you can utilize the leftover for chicken salad, or sandwiches, so don't be afraid to simply roast a chicken with your very own twist.

To start, pull your chicken out and let it sit at room temp for about 20 minutes - this helps the meat cook more evenly because you aren't throwing a cold chicken in a 400 degree oven. While your chicken is sitting out, make a general seasoned butter.

I did 1 stick of butter for a 7.5 pound chicken
And I did some fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon zest.

You could choose to do a cajun chicken with spices, or to go more asian with garlic and ginger and lemon grass.  Whatever you fancy.

Get your butter soft enough to mold. (Throw it back in the fridge if it's too runny) Mix all your ingredients with butter. I like to add a little EVO to mine as well for flavor.





















Now do as I say and not as I do - I added WAY too many herbs. But we are all human here, am I right?

So, after you have rinsed your chicken and have it COMPLETELY dry, we are going to take our butter under the skin of the breast.

Simply use your fingers to loosen the skin, then ball your butter into two equal balls and press it under the skin, gradually pushing on the top to get it all the way up in there. And then repeat to the other side.

Rough chop some carrots and onions (save some for later) and stuff them in the cavity of chicken, you can add apples or lemons, and fresh herbs in there too. This is going to add flavor and help the chicken hold its shape (same reason we truss it).

This so easy, you're going to wonder why you didn't truss before.



Simply take a piece of string or twine and pull to have two sides of equal length and tie a knot around the neck of the bird. Sides of your twine still equal? 
Now work your way down, starting at the wings. Simply make sure the wings are secure under your twine, then come between the inside of the thighs and bring the legs up and tie the legs together.

Okay, so for roasting you want to put it in a roasting pan "propped" up on veggies (those veggies you saved) - this keeps is from getting soggy and helps the chicken cook evenly, because you have elevated the chicken off the pan. 

Cook at 450 degrees for 20 minutes until skin is nice and crisp, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook for 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. 

** I pull mine out at 160 and let it rest for 15 (Yes, I said 15) minutes so that it will carryover to 165 degrees. 

While it's resting, make a pan sauce from your amazing chicken juice in the bottom of the pan. Throw your pan over medium high heat, and toss some flour in the pan - this might seem strange, you have veggies floating around in flour, but go with it. 
Stir until it's absorbed, then scrape up all the goodness off the bottom of the pan. 
Then DEGLAZE. You can use white wine or chicken stock and it should be HOT - you should have lots of steam coming up off your pan.

Then strain into a sauce pan. Cube up some butter and whisk it into your sauce until it is emulsified. Add some fresh herbs and a squeeze of lemon juice.




TA-DA! Dinner is served.

This is great with wilted kale and some home fries rolled in oil till crispy. 



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