Pages

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Roast Chicken my way!


I love a good roast chicken. It is a great, tasty comfort food and also provides a myriad of possibilities for leftovers(what's better than good leftovers?). Unfortunately though, I find that roast chicken can get bland and dry (think your worst turkey experience). I've definitely played with (and will continue to play) this for a long while and here is what roast chicken looks like for me these days.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

I start by buttering the bottom of the roasting pan. Then I chop some carrots (you could use baby carrots, regular carrots, add potatoes - think big!) and a little sliced onion (I prefer red but whatever you have will do nicely. Add a little chicken stock (I use the powdered stuff and add a little bit of water - yeah, I know... whatever) but I wouldn't use more than a cup if you are using liquid. Place the vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Inside the chicken I put a big chunk of onion (I usually use the part that I've kept from the bottom when chopping onion for something else), some celery, a few cloves of garlic (whole), pepper sauce, worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins) and close the opening with a half a lemon. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Rub the chicken with butter (olive oil will work well too) and sprinkle with brown sugar (about 2 tbsp at most) and salt (you could easily sprinkle some herbs here too but I prefer the pure look of the roast with no green on it - just golden!). I like to sprinkle again with Worcestershire sauce and sometimes I'll also do a sprinkle of Soy Sauce and Angostura Bitters
Put foil over the pan and roast for about 45 - 50 min covered. Remove foil and roast for another 15 - 20 min. Just watch to make sure that it doesn't go dry.
What you should have at the end of that is a lovely, golden, crunchy skinned chicke
n with beautifully roasted carrots. I have also made gravy (take the pan drippings. add about 1 1/2 cups of stock and mix with a paste of water and cornstarch to thicken. Simmer for just a few minutes and season to taste.
Enjoy the fantastic comfort food! Yummmmmmm

No comments:

Post a Comment