I used to think roasting an entire chicken was this mysterious and extremely difficult thing that a dolt like me couldn't manage. Then I discovered meat thermometers, and they changed my life. I acquired one by marrying Mr. B so I've never had to buy one, but I've seen second-hand ones for a dollar at thrift stores. Or you can get new ones for around $5. I wouldn't bother with the fancy $30 ones. I dislike spending $30 on anything that can't perform magic tricks.
I know there's supposed to be some formula about minutes in the oven per pound of chicken, but I have never mastered this. Here's what I do.
Preheat your oven to 425 Fahrenheit (220 Celsius). Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
Take one medium-sized chicken. Not one of those giant, genetically-engineered monstrosities,* but not a titchy little one either. Lay it, breast side up, in a large roasting pan. Pull out the giblets and add them to your stock pot. (Or just throw them out. I won't tell.) Season the chicken with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and perhaps a sprig of fresh rosemary or a few good pinches of the dried stuff. That's it. That's all you have to do to it while it's raw.
Optional extras:
1. Some people coat the chicken in oil or melted butter before seasoning it. I don't think this adds anything amazing to the flavor, and it's more fat. But do it if you like it.
2. Some people get a lemon or lime, make four or five deep cuts in it, and stuff it in the chicken's cavity. It's supposed to make it tenderer. I'm not sure if this is true, but it certainly gives it a nice lemony taste.
3. Some people put stuffing in the cavity. I don't much like stuffing, so I don't bother. Mr. B likes stuffing, but he doesn't like the sort that comes out of chicken cavities, so he makes it in a dish. I do not have a recipe for this.
4. If you prefer the skin crisper and the overall texture less fatty, you can put a shallow rack inside the roasting pan and lay the chicken across it so the fat all drips down. You could, if you felt particularly enterprising, put some cut-up potatoes under this rack, which would then cook deliciously in chicken fat and juices.
5. You can more or less roast any vegetable you like alongside your chicken. Some ideas: cauliflower, cut into large florets; big chunks of zucchini; cubed butternut squash; sweet potatoes and yams; quartered onions; etc. Spray them with a little cooking spray and sprinkle some salt, pepper and/or dried herbs on them if you wish.
Once you've done everything to your chicken that you need to do, put it in the oven for between 1 1/4 hours and 1 1/2 hours. Start checking after one hour with your meat thermometer. When the thermometer reads about 170 degrees Fahrenheit, you're done. If you don't have a meat thermometer, you're supposed to be able to tell that it's cooked by stabbing it with a skewer and observing whether the juices run pink (not cooked) or clear (cooked). However, I have had results ranging from raw and bloody to revoltingly dried-out when I did this, so I love my thermometer.
Carve (look this up on YouTube, I'm not going to tell you how to do it because I lack both skill and the powers of description) and serve to your grateful family, with sides of roasted vegetables and/or a green salad. I like the thighs and drumsticks. Mr. B will only eat the white meat. Baby B eats whatever I give her, and sneakily feeds anything she doesn't want to to the dog.
*Since I can't stop this middle-class urge I've got, now's the time I'm supposed to tell you to get an organic or free-range bird, because not only is it kinder to animals, it's supposed to taste better. I admit, I can't tell the difference in taste when it comes to chicken. (Grass-fed beef vs. corn-fed, definitely. Chicken? No clue.) The bit about humane treatment of animals is, however, undeniable. I can get a $6 chicken that claims to be "cruelty free," whatever that means, from my local budget supermarket. I can get an organic one the same size for three times more from the health food co-op we belong to. I have my doubts about the provenance of the budget bird, but we simply can't afford to eat organic chicken very often, and I want Baby B to get her protein, and chicken is incredibly cheap and nutritious. I hope to atone for this some day when we are richer.
This said, I recently observed that you can buy one of those rotisserie chickens for about $5 at the same budget supermarket. The chicken is the same size as an uncooked one, but you save a dollar and the money you'd have spent running the oven. The only problems are (1) that it might be a battery chicken that's full of rubbish and has lived a miserable life, and (2) that it's covered with unhealthy additives and preservatives. Full disclosure: sometimes I buy these on hot summer days when I want chicken but the thought of roasting one makes me feel quite ill, or on cold winter nights when I'm tired and hungry and can't be bothered.
No comments:
Post a Comment