Roasted Chicken
For the Roasted Chicken Challenge, Tommy and I started off with a 2.91 pound chicken from somewhere in Piedmont, NC. We decided to do the dry brine as Melanie’s recipe stated. We kept it in the refrigerator for about 7 hours before taking it out. Like Brian’s, it had turned a pinkish color. It looked kind of gross in my opinion, but I forged ahead. We oiled, sugared and peppered the outsides, and added some aromatics to the insides. The aromatics consisted of 1 shallot, 1/4 of a Gala Apple, 1 cinnamon stick, twig of rosemary and a twig of sage. It was baked breast side down for 25 minutes, then breast side up for about 20 minutes (we used our thermometer inserted in the thigh to tell us when the bird was done, which was 175 degrees later).
The end result was a very moist and flavorful chicken. Neither Tommy nor I are big fans of eating small birds from the bone, it just seems like so much effort for so little meat. But it was delicious, and WORLDS better than the rotisserie chickens you can buy from supermarket. I think that the type of chicken that we bought (free range chicken) contributed to its goodness and tastiness. Tommy also made a gravy with the drippings. MMMMMM tasty gravy it was. With only 2.91 pounds of chicken, there wasn’t much left, only about a cup of shredded chicken. We made Paninis with it a week later, which was the wrong choice. It would have been much better used in some chicken salad maybe.
One thing happened with the chicken that seemed a little odd. Tommy and I weren’t really sure of the exact location on the thigh to put the thermometer. We didn’t have much luck with thermometer placement when cooking our two Thanksgiving turkeys, so we weren’t sure how much faith to put in this thermometer placement. We were convinced that our chicken was done when it took about 20 minutes (with breast side up) to reach the 175 degrees. We were even happier when we began carving the chicken and saw that it seemed to be done. However, after turning the chicken around to start on the other side, it was revealed that the thigh piece was not done on the second side. Everything else seemed to be done. So we continued with the carving and threw in the un-finished thigh and remaining carcas back in the oven for 10 minutes, and began eating.
I would roast a chicken again. It was pretty easy but a little time consuming since you have to plan out when to brine it and when to be available when it is done brining. Next time I would be interested in roasting it in a pan with lots of vegetables like Will and Maggie suggested. I like roasted vegetables, and just thinking of the flavor that the vegetables will absorb makes me hungry even when I am full.