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Jeannie O'Grady Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS #209607 Creative Mortgage Lenders, NMLS #247952 Phone: Cell/Text: (727) 542-7001 Fax: (727) 823-0687 License: 209607 Jeannie@CreativeMortgageLenders.com www.CreativeMortgageLenders.com |
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June 2009
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Perfectly Roasted Chicken Make Any Day a Special Occasion By Kirk Leins Whole roasted chicken ranks as one of my favorite meals. It's simple enough to serve as a weeknight offering, rustic enough to satisfy the hungriest of appetites, and elegant enough for almost any dinner party. But, there's one catch. In order to perfectly roast a chicken you need a few tricks up your sleeve. Follow along as I roll up my sleeves and expose the secrets behind the magic. The Issues with Chicken For starters, all of the meat is cooked to the optimal temperature. Breast meat remains moist and juicy, with no hint of being mealy or stringy, and the darker meat from the legs and thighs is cooked through and almost falling off the bone. The second key is the skin. It has to be really crispy, all the way around the bird. "What's the problem?", you ask. The big issue with roasting chicken is achieving the aforementioned qualities on the same bird. Most cooks either wind up with crispy skin and overcooked meat, or perfectly cooked meat and rubbery skin. If that's not frustrating enough, there is also the issue of the white meat and dark meat cooking at different rates. To solve these issues we need to even the playing field a bit. The first thing you must understand is that the bird's shape poses a huge problem when it comes to roasting. A whole chicken is round with a big hole running directly through the center. The roundness creates a situation where only a small portion of the surface space is directly exposed to the heat circulated via your oven's natural convection. The "big hole", also known as the cavity of the chicken, wreaks further havoc on the cooking process due to its ability to trap moisture and create steam. Sure, the steam is great for keeping the meat moist. The problem is that the majority of the moisture pools to the bottom of the cavity, resulting in soggy skin on the bottom half of the bird. Some cooking methods call for periodically rotating the bird during cooking. I, however, am not a fan of this process, as I find rotating a hot bird to be a giant pain in the you-know-what. In addition, every time you open your oven door you let out heat, which hinders the crisping of the skin. Addressing the Issues The first thing we need to do is to change the shape of the bird. Instead of round we're looking for flat, and the best way to make the bird flat is to butterfly it. While I urge you to watch the accompanying video for a great visual demonstration, the following are steps for properly butterflying a chicken:
Congratulations! You have successfully butterflied a chicken. Before we go any further, I'd like you to know that you've just learned a technique that will change the way you cook a whole chicken. Aside from roasting it in the oven, a butterflied bird also does really well on the grill! Let's do some cooking. Perfectly Roasted Chicken (serves 4) Preheat oven to 500 to 525 degrees. Use the vegetables as a roasting rack by arranging them on the bottom of a large, heavy duty, roasting pan. Pour water into the roasting pan so that the entire surface area of the pan is covered in about ¼ inch of water. Liberally season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken (skin side up) on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees and the juices run clear. Remove the chicken to a plate and loosely tent with foil. Allow the chicken to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into it. A Little Jus? Chicken Jus (makes about 1.25 cups) Lay the pan with the remaining drippings on top of two stovetop burners. Turn on both burners and set to a medium flame. Add 3/4 C dry red wine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Using the back of a wooden spoon scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes, or until the juices have slightly thickened. Strain the mixture into a gravy separator and then transfer into a gravy boat or small serving dish. Serve alongside the roasted chicken. A Few Last Words... To begin with, roasted chicken can be served alongside almost anything. Any type of potato or rice dish would work great as the starch component to this meal. Heck, you could even take an easier route and grill up a few slices of crusty French bread. In terms of vegetables, the sky is the limit. Roasted, steamed or grilled, anything you serve is going to work great. And let's not forget salad. Sometimes, I'll roast a chicken and serve it alongside nothing but cold salads. A little green salad, a scoop of potato salad, you get the drift. Most of all, I think what I like most about roasting chicken are the infinite possibilities for leftovers. What I usually do with leftover chicken is to start by taking any of the remaining meat off the bones and reserving it in a sealable plastic container in the fridge. With the leftover bones, I wrap them in plastic and freeze them, or I immediately make a stock out of them, along with the backbone that was removed earlier. As far as the meat is concerned, I'll make Chinese chicken salad, chicken salad sandwiches, enchiladas, tacos, fried rice, chicken soup or whatever comes to mind. The point is that leftover shredded chicken meat is invaluable to a home cook. And in this day and age, who couldn't use a little more value? Enjoy! Kirk Leins has been cooking his entire life. No stranger to professional kitchens, he currently devotes most of his time to cooking instruction, food writing, and producing television. Kirk also provides his services as a personal chef in and around the Los Angeles area. He has made several TV appearances on both the national and local level, and is the Executive Chef for YOU Magazine. Sign up for Kirk's free newsletter and cooking blog at www.NoTimeToCookDinner.com. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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