Thursday, July 7, 2011

Herbed Chicken

It never looks as pretty as the photo in the book. Why does one leg look sunburned and one look raw? I cooked it to the required temperature, but it turns out I like my birds cooked well past that point. Next time I’m roasting it until the entire thing looks sunburned. Also, I need to buy some of that string to tie the legs together. I’ve been told the purpose of doing that, but I forgot what it is. I know it’s not just for looks.

I’ve started checking the sales flyers and buying meats that are on sale and then finding recipes for them. Whole fryers/roasters were 77 cents per pound, so I had chicken this week. I’m not excited about cutting it up. If I buy a whole bird, I’m cooking the whole bird and then carving it like a turkey.

The instructions were to mix up some herbs with bouillon granules and water then pour it over the chicken.  The recipe is here if anyone is interested.  It’s baked covered for almost an hour, then uncovered to brown. It turned out very moist, but I think the herbs were wasted on the skin because I didn’t eat it. When I cook chicken pieces, I remove the skin before I cook them. Can you do that when you cook it this way?

11 comments:

Oilfield Trash said...

That looks good. So why didn't you invite me over for dinner? lmao

Brian Miller said...

well, looks good to me...would not kick it off the plate...

Adina said...

Sometimes with a whole chicken it is helpful to cook it in a pressure cooker with good seasonings and then the meat falls off of the bone and is great for making chicken salad or chicken spaghetti or many other recipes.

Vince said...

No you cannot remove the skin, you'll dry the thing like sand.
The way to make certain you've cooked a Bird any bird is to cook it until the juice runs clear. No blood. But for the most part, 20min a pound and 20min cooks in most ovens. And with herbs, lemon, whatever. Place within the cavity. Oh cook the bird breast side down, that helps stop it drying out too much. Another way to see if it's cooked, see can you pull off a leg. While the tying/trussing is a waste of time as these days it's mostly so they can package pack and ship easier. And untrussed they look organic therefore expensive.

Sage said...

Looks good--I like using a old roaster and baking it for several hours at lower temperatures. A little oil will help the bird's skin "tan" nicely!

Kelly said...

Looks tasty to me! Could be that your oven doesn't cook evenly. You might have to rotate the roasting pan to get even browning.

About the only time I ever cook a whole bird is when I cook wild goose at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even then it's not cleaned exactly like a storebought bird would be. I cook it long and low in a dutch oven with a lid.

Grannybunny said...

That looks awesome to me. You would pick a day when we're fasting -- "saving ourselves" -- in preparation for an outing to the Heart Attack Grill! If you're concerned about losing the flavor by removing the skin, you can marinate the bird beforehand -- to soak up some of the flavor -- or insert herbs, etc., under the skin before roasting; you can use a knife to loosen the skin, in order to do so, or cut actual slits in the skin.

Casey White said...

This looks awesome. Thanks for the recipe. I may try to make this soon!

Tempo said...

Looks great to me...But then Im always more interested how it tastes over how it looks.

nick said...

That's how we cook them. You tie the legs to keep it from falling apart, and also helps keep the moisture in. Also, rotate the pan in the oven a couple of times during cooking to keep the heat evenly distributed. Yum.

Full-On-Forward said...

Blogger sux-- You don't--so I'm so sorry to have been gone so long! Just popped in to say HI!

Missed ya Jen!

Hugs,

John

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