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Roast chicken
May. 29th, 2009 06:17 pmThe local grocery was selling two roasters for the price of one, and I can't resist a twofer. Thought I would wait and do something with them this weekend, but found one of the bags leaking in the fridge last night and between this, that, and the upcoming busy weekend, decided to freeze one and roast the other today.
No crockpot this time. I love the quality of the gravy/juice/sauce, but I find the meat comes out dry. So. Washed chicken. Salted interior, then added 6-7 garlic cloves, and some dried thyme and rosemary. Brushed skin with olive oil, salted and peppered, and then made 4-5 slits in various places in the breasts and thighs and tucked a garlic clove in each. Didn't add any liquid. Just put it in a roast pan, covered it, and put it in a 375F oven until I could pull away the legs with barely a tug, about 2 hours.
Oh, it was good. Skin was browned, but not crispy, but I didn't remove the lid. I didn't get the lovely browned juice that I have seen on the tube, so next time I will crank up the oven to 425F for 1.5 hours. May use butter instead of olive oil. But the meat was moist and well-seasoned without being overpowered. Had it with a green salad and a Mankas rosé. The mashed garlic cloves were delish. Lots of meat leftover. I may buy some grapes and fresh tarragon over the weekend and make chicken salad.
Made stock, too. Salvaged some celery before it wilted too much and some carrots before they dried out. The rest of the unsprouted garlic. A little of the rosé. Salt and pepper. Wound up with about 10.5 cups. It's not great stock, but it's better than canned and hey, I'm new at this.
No crockpot this time. I love the quality of the gravy/juice/sauce, but I find the meat comes out dry. So. Washed chicken. Salted interior, then added 6-7 garlic cloves, and some dried thyme and rosemary. Brushed skin with olive oil, salted and peppered, and then made 4-5 slits in various places in the breasts and thighs and tucked a garlic clove in each. Didn't add any liquid. Just put it in a roast pan, covered it, and put it in a 375F oven until I could pull away the legs with barely a tug, about 2 hours.
Oh, it was good. Skin was browned, but not crispy, but I didn't remove the lid. I didn't get the lovely browned juice that I have seen on the tube, so next time I will crank up the oven to 425F for 1.5 hours. May use butter instead of olive oil. But the meat was moist and well-seasoned without being overpowered. Had it with a green salad and a Mankas rosé. The mashed garlic cloves were delish. Lots of meat leftover. I may buy some grapes and fresh tarragon over the weekend and make chicken salad.
Made stock, too. Salvaged some celery before it wilted too much and some carrots before they dried out. The rest of the unsprouted garlic. A little of the rosé. Salt and pepper. Wound up with about 10.5 cups. It's not great stock, but it's better than canned and hey, I'm new at this.
