Interesting roast chicken
Discussion
I normally stuff it with lime, garlic and rosemary, give it a good rub with olive oil and season with s&p. Roast it for about 80 minutes, turning the oven up as high as it will go for the last 15 minutes.
Put the chicken on some thick slices of onion and pour a cup of water in the roasting dish. The chicken juices left in the bottom with this stuff make a nice basis for your gravy.
Put the chicken on some thick slices of onion and pour a cup of water in the roasting dish. The chicken juices left in the bottom with this stuff make a nice basis for your gravy.
dcw@pr said:
I've got a chicken to roast tonight. I was wondering if anyone had any interesting/unusual (and good) ideas for how to do it apart from the usual suspects?
Beer Butt Chicken. Mmmm.Basically shove an open (half full will do) can of beer (or cider) into the body cavity of a Chicken and roast it "standing up". Very moist. Very tasty.
or Lemon Chicken. Pot roast the chicken in a Le Crueset along witha bag of lemons chopped into 1cm slices. Make sure the lemon covers the chicken. 15 mins before the end remove the lemons and brown the chicken. It's very, very lemony - don't make gravy with the juice in the bottom. Also good with Tarragon.
or...Pancetta Chicken Portions: cut it up into quarters. Place portions into a roasting dish. Sprinkle with garlic salt and then scatter pancetta slices over it. Roast until the skin is crisp.
Try making up a flavoured butter, separating the skin from the breast and 'stuffing' it. In the past I've found that chopped streaky bacon, garlic and thyme are a good mix.
Another good concoction is very finely diced mushrooms which have been sweated to almost a tapenade consistency in butter with garlic and thyme (can you see a theme?) and pack that under the skin.
Either way, make sure that you get it all the way around the breast and not just on the top. Keeps the meat moist and makes an interesting accompaniment when served up.
If you're feeling particularly French and don't want anyone talking to you tomorrow have a google for the Rick Stein 'Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic' recipe.
Another good concoction is very finely diced mushrooms which have been sweated to almost a tapenade consistency in butter with garlic and thyme (can you see a theme?) and pack that under the skin.
Either way, make sure that you get it all the way around the breast and not just on the top. Keeps the meat moist and makes an interesting accompaniment when served up.
If you're feeling particularly French and don't want anyone talking to you tomorrow have a google for the Rick Stein 'Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic' recipe.
dcw@pr said:
I think I'll give the beer butt a go.
Tips for beer butt chicken.It needs to roast upright, of course. It's not easy to balance the bloody thing...so...if you have a Le Crueset or other deep pot you can fit in the oven put the chicken into that, balanced on the can, and then stick some skewers through the chicken/can to hold it upright.
To avoid making the most phenomenal mess in your oven make a "tent" out of foil and put this over the top.
It's delicious and fun to do.
Don said:
dcw@pr said:
I think I'll give the beer butt a go.
Tips for beer butt chicken.It needs to roast upright, of course. It's not easy to balance the bloody thing...so...if you have a Le Crueset or other deep pot you can fit in the oven put the chicken into that, balanced on the can, and then stick some skewers through the chicken/can to hold it upright.
To avoid making the most phenomenal mess in your oven make a "tent" out of foil and put this over the top.
It's delicious and fun to do.
dcw@pr said:
I was worried about the balancing. How come it makes a mess, does it spit everywhere?
Only as much as any chicken will. The problem is that it is upright so any spitting it does do hits more of the oven!But do not fear - the deep pot/skewers/tinfoil business contains the mess, is easy to do and prevents the chicken from falling over...which you absolutely do not want to happen.
Once all the spitting is done.Posted this elsewhere before, this is my favourite way to roast a chicken:
Roast chicken a la BrabusMog
Ingredients
Whole Chicken
2x Lemons
Pancetta
Mozarella
Thyme and Rosemary
Method
First you need to do the basics. Season your chicken with some salt and pepper in the morning and leave it loosely wrapped in foil in the fridge until you are ready to start cooking.
When cooking time arrives you need to take one of your lemons, chop it in half and squeeze it out completely (both halves) over the chicken so it is soaking in lemony goodness then stuff the squeezed lemon into the cavity ( everytime).
Lightly grill your pancetta and chop up into small pieces. Strip your thyme. Zest your other lemon. Get a mixing bowl and mix all this together along with the mozarella. I also like to squeeze a little bit of the lemon juice in at this point.
Take your mixture and stuff it between the meat and the skin and flatten it out so it spreads neatly. I then stuff the cavity with the other zested lemon.
Then strip your rosemary and sprinkle it over the chicken.
Cover again with foil and sling it in the oven for about an hour. I check on mine every 20-25mins and baste.
Whilst this is going on you will obviously have par-boiled your potatoes ready for roasting! I like to use the juices that are running off the chicken to coat my potatoes after the chicken has been in for about an hour. I put the potatoes in for the remaining 50 or so minutes and make sure they have a good coating of juice from the chicken whilst roasting. I also like to sprinkle thyme over them.
Once the chicken and potatoes are done, I like to plate up everyones potatoes. I then call dinner, wait for everyone to sit down and present my poultry perfection to pleased people! Carved carefully it really does look great. Voila!
Roast chicken a la BrabusMog
Ingredients
Whole Chicken
2x Lemons
Pancetta
Mozarella
Thyme and Rosemary
Method
First you need to do the basics. Season your chicken with some salt and pepper in the morning and leave it loosely wrapped in foil in the fridge until you are ready to start cooking.
When cooking time arrives you need to take one of your lemons, chop it in half and squeeze it out completely (both halves) over the chicken so it is soaking in lemony goodness then stuff the squeezed lemon into the cavity ( everytime).
Lightly grill your pancetta and chop up into small pieces. Strip your thyme. Zest your other lemon. Get a mixing bowl and mix all this together along with the mozarella. I also like to squeeze a little bit of the lemon juice in at this point.
Take your mixture and stuff it between the meat and the skin and flatten it out so it spreads neatly. I then stuff the cavity with the other zested lemon.
Then strip your rosemary and sprinkle it over the chicken.
Cover again with foil and sling it in the oven for about an hour. I check on mine every 20-25mins and baste.
Whilst this is going on you will obviously have par-boiled your potatoes ready for roasting! I like to use the juices that are running off the chicken to coat my potatoes after the chicken has been in for about an hour. I put the potatoes in for the remaining 50 or so minutes and make sure they have a good coating of juice from the chicken whilst roasting. I also like to sprinkle thyme over them.
Once the chicken and potatoes are done, I like to plate up everyones potatoes. I then call dinner, wait for everyone to sit down and present my poultry perfection to pleased people! Carved carefully it really does look great. Voila!
Edited by BrabusMog on Thursday 17th September 14:25
I never thought that before, but I just re-read my own recipe and it does seem quite lemony. It doesn't taste too lemony though, trust me!Webber Smokey Mountain. The vents at the bottom are used to control the heat, with a thermometer in the top vent and you look to maintain 225F..(Low and slow is the idea) - those chickens took about 4 hours and there would have been enough residual heat in the Webber to be able to crack open the bottom vents all the way and cook some steaks.
They are very efficient cookers.
They are very efficient cookers.
juice said:
Webber Smokey Mountain. The vents at the bottom are used to control the heat, with a thermometer in the top vent and you look to maintain 225F..(Low and slow is the idea) - those chickens took about 4 hours and there would have been enough residual heat in the Webber to be able to crack open the bottom vents all the way and cook some steaks.
They are very efficient cookers.
Thanks for that. My smoker may require replacement in the next year or so. Yours looks better...They are very efficient cookers.
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff