Roast chicken with butterflies
Even though I'm not the biggest poultry fan in the world (they remind me a little too much of my parrot sometimes), I've been roasting chicken on weekends for many years now. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how a roast chicken makes your whole house smell cozy; how delicious and crispy the potatoes become when they get thrown in the pan too; or how easy it is to turn a tattered chicken carcass into stock the next day.
But usually I think my roast chicken sucks. I've never quite gotten the combination of oven temperature and cooking time right. That deep little pocket of flesh above the thigh continues to leak pinkish juice far too long after the breast has cooked through and the skin has grown dangerously tan. I sigh and swear and shove it back into the oven with foil on top until the whole bird turns rubbery and weird and we're about to pass out from hunger.
People always look at me like I'm an asshole when I admit this. "But you went to COOKING SCHOOL. You mean you can't roast a simple chicken?" Ok, yes, I can roast a chicken. It will be decent and will not poison you. But is it the Perfect Chicken to End All Chickens? Am I satisfied with it to the point that I can serve it without pointing out every single flaw? No.
Am I too hard on myself? Yes. Often.
Like any hack, I enjoy blaming the equipment. I own a gorgeous All-Clad roaster that weighs about 20 pounds, and no matter what method I use, its sheer bulk always seems to double the roasting time of any recipe that I try. (No, my oven temperature is not off. And yes, I have tried preheating the roaster.) So lately I've taken to using an insulated baking pan combined with a small roasting rack that I bought at Goodwill for 60 cents. This works better.
After watching Mark Bittman's 45 minute turkey video, I thought I might try a different approach: butterflying the chicken first and just laying it out on top of the vegetables.
Well, wouldn't you know it -- it worked great, and the whole thing cooked to perfection in about 50 minutes at 400 degrees.* Still longer than the hypothetical Bittman turkey, but who cares? Every bit of it was tender and juicy, and the vegetables still got a good dose of chicken drippings for flavor. It's not as pretty when it comes out of the oven, but it is easier to portion. The skin also wasn't as crispy as I would have liked, but we cannot have it all. There I go again, nit-picking.
Try this recipe, and if you suffer from the same roast chicken impairment that I do, give butterflying a shot. More importantly, don't give up. Your dream chicken is out there somewhere in a field filled with butterflies.
*At least, I think it was 50 minutes. The memory is a little hazy because I was simultaneously cleaning up the living room, making rice pudding, listening to music and drinking beer. Just set your timer for about 40 minutes and take a peek and decide where to go from there.
But usually I think my roast chicken sucks. I've never quite gotten the combination of oven temperature and cooking time right. That deep little pocket of flesh above the thigh continues to leak pinkish juice far too long after the breast has cooked through and the skin has grown dangerously tan. I sigh and swear and shove it back into the oven with foil on top until the whole bird turns rubbery and weird and we're about to pass out from hunger.
People always look at me like I'm an asshole when I admit this. "But you went to COOKING SCHOOL. You mean you can't roast a simple chicken?" Ok, yes, I can roast a chicken. It will be decent and will not poison you. But is it the Perfect Chicken to End All Chickens? Am I satisfied with it to the point that I can serve it without pointing out every single flaw? No.
Am I too hard on myself? Yes. Often.
Like any hack, I enjoy blaming the equipment. I own a gorgeous All-Clad roaster that weighs about 20 pounds, and no matter what method I use, its sheer bulk always seems to double the roasting time of any recipe that I try. (No, my oven temperature is not off. And yes, I have tried preheating the roaster.) So lately I've taken to using an insulated baking pan combined with a small roasting rack that I bought at Goodwill for 60 cents. This works better.
After watching Mark Bittman's 45 minute turkey video, I thought I might try a different approach: butterflying the chicken first and just laying it out on top of the vegetables.
Well, wouldn't you know it -- it worked great, and the whole thing cooked to perfection in about 50 minutes at 400 degrees.* Still longer than the hypothetical Bittman turkey, but who cares? Every bit of it was tender and juicy, and the vegetables still got a good dose of chicken drippings for flavor. It's not as pretty when it comes out of the oven, but it is easier to portion. The skin also wasn't as crispy as I would have liked, but we cannot have it all. There I go again, nit-picking.
*At least, I think it was 50 minutes. The memory is a little hazy because I was simultaneously cleaning up the living room, making rice pudding, listening to music and drinking beer. Just set your timer for about 40 minutes and take a peek and decide where to go from there.
Labels: chicken, comfort foods, main dishes, poultry
posted by cindym at 11:39 AM
7 Comments:
I Cindy, I like this post (I like them all really but I'm going to comment on this one).
I roast my little 3 pound chickens in an 8" square aluminum cake pan for an hour and twenty minutes at 350 and they turn out beautiful about 80% of the time. Edible but not perfect the other 20%. No veg in the pan, just the chicken. I use a chopped vegetable base for my pork roasts in the same pan, again, pretty darn perfect. Sometimes I use a glass corning ware oval and sometimes I use my expensive rack and roasting pan, but those two methods don't work as well some how. Chicken is a mystery. Can't say why it works sometimes and not others. I suspect the barometric pressure and the alignment of the stars....
tomatoejane
Cindy, great post. Dang that job of yours that you can't post more! :)
There are 3 roast chicken recipes I've used with success, one of them being the newest.
1. Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
2. Jamie Olvier's "The Naked Chef"
3. Mindy Fox and Sara Jenkins' "Olives and Oranges".
Just for fun, take a peek at these recipes if you can find these books on your shelf or library.
Lu
Thanks "TJ". I have two beloved old 8" cake pans - maybe I'll try those out on a more petite chicken/squabby creature.
Hey Lu - that third recipe you suggest is the one I used in this post! I LOVED it.
I know a wonderful little farm in Mid-Michigan where you can soon order cage-free, natural, locally fed chickens from. They are even taken to a beautiful Amish farm for processing. :)
Love reading about your food adventures! :)
Mmm, I haven`t roasted many chickens in my life, but the ones I did turned out fine. I just stuck them in an aluminum tray, the disposable kind and baked away. :) This looks like a great way to do things, though.
You know, that is funny. This week at school is chicken week (I'm a culinary school student) and of all the ways we are making chicken, roasted isn't one of them.
But you are right - it is the smell that is the best part of it.
Hmmm. Now I want to roast one. I'll have to speak to the chef.
Cheers!
hmmmm...that roast chicken sounds delicious....can't wait to make it....right away i'm gonna get the ingredients from www.myethnicworld.com and try it.
Post a Comment
<< Home