Roast Chicken

Lemon Chicken by radix023

(freely stolen from Marcella Hazan's books: Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking):

Two small lemons
Whole chicken
salt
pepper

Clean chicken, remove neck, kidneys, wishbone.
salt and pepper chicken
Poke lemons with a fork 4 times each with fork (16 holes apiece)
Push lemons into chicken cavity, pinch skin together and poke toothpicks through (4-7 depending on size of chicken and cavity cut)
 

Cook:
30 mins in 350F oven, breast down
30 mins in 350F oven, breast up
Turn up oven to 400F, time depends on weight.

Total cooking time will be about 20 mins a pound, so for a 4 pound chicken you will go 1 hr 20 mins (my typical scenario)

Once you cross 212F, the lemons become acid pumps, which makes the meat very juicy, even if your bird was frozen for a while. Ending with the high temp provides a nice crispy skin.

I was pressed into service while visiting relatives last December and this, plus carrots, a salad and toasted bread rounds (French bread) with roasted garlic and brie was what we had.

A solid rule when cooking meat: allow the meat to come to even room temperature before starting the cooking. It will taste better, as it will cook more evenly and the meat will be more united in terms of juice flow.

Also be sure to let meat 'rest' (sit, covered at room temp) for 10-15 minutes before carving. You can tell it's rested because there will be juice on the plate or serving dish.

Options

From JohnRov:
 

Sometimes I stuff butter and herbs or other compound butters (chipotles and lime, maître d’hôtel, etc. into the cavity before cooking). 

From JerseyJohn:

For whole roast chicken, I've been having good luck with the high heat method:

Using your fingers, separate the skin from the breast and thigh meat as much as possible. Set the chicken uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry the skin. Rub well with kosher salt.

Cut some slits in the skin on either side of the back to drain fat. Set it breast side down in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Turn it over. Roast until done. Some say to up the temp to 500 for the last 10 minutes, but I haven't found this necessary to get a nice brown, crisp skin, and at 500 the fat in the pan will smoke like the devil.

from NZNorm:

Nothing wrong with Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Roast Chicken! The bacon makes it great.

Prep Time: 40 min
Inactive Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 20 min
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Difficulty: Easy

• 1 (5 1/2 pound) free-range chicken
• 1/2 bunch each fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 orange, halved
• 1/2 head garlic
• 1 medium white onion, halved, plus 1 onion
• 6 strips smoked bacon
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• Serving suggestion: roast potatoes, watercress and gravy.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out. Pat it dry with paper towels.

Divide the herbs, keeping 1/2 of them whole. Finely chop the other half. In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the chopped herbs, until combined. Rub the herbed butter under the skin, as well as all over the outside of the chicken.

Season the bird all over with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the orange, garlic, 1 onion, and the remaining herbs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine to help hold its shape.

Place the chicken, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Put the remaining onion into the pan, which will help color and flavor the sauce. Lay the strips of bacon across the breast of the chicken and roast for 25 minutes.

Remove the bacon and baste the chicken with the drippings and cook for another 25 minutes to brown the skin. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (the legs of the chicken should wiggle easily from the sockets too.)

Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving.

Meanwhile, remove the softened onion from the roasting pan. Tilt the pan so the drippings collect in 1 corner, skimming off as much fat as possible, and leaving the drippings. Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium heat and take a wooden spoon to scrape up the flavor from the bottom of the pan. Stir the flour into the drippings to make a roux-like paste. Pour in the chicken broth in stages; continue to stir to dissolve the flour evenly to prevent lumps. Stir in the sherry and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, carve the chicken tableside and squeeze the oranges from the cavity over the meat.

FRIED CHICKEN
 
I took the fried chicken recipe suggestions from a post, and added some tips from other recipes and came up with this:

Brine (optional)  --  ¼ cup salt to 8 cups water

From StevenRocks

First you soak your chicken pieces in a bowl of water with a little bit of salt, baking soda and sugar. The amount varies depending on how much chicken you're making, but is at least a half-teaspoon of each. (The salt draws out some of the excess blood, the baking powder tenderizes the meat a bit, and the sugar sweetens it somewhat. You can leave out the last two if desired, but the salt is essential.) Soak for at least 30 minutes.

I forgot the baking soda, but think the sugar is a great addition for brine.  I used some garlic salt in addition to sea salt for this.  Most recipes suggest soaking the chicken in the brine for 8 to 12 hours!

After the Brine soak the chicken in buttermilk for another 8 to 12 hours! 

The buttermilk mixture can also contain Tabasco and salt.

Then mix some seasoned flour:

1.5 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder (suggestion from Martha Stewart), some recipes call for an addition of cornstarch, and salt, black pepper.

Options are fresh herbs (parsley, oregano and/or thyme) and cayenne pepper

Take chicken pieces from buttermilk marinade and dredge in seasoned flour (you can shake in a paper bag or plastic bag.

From StevenRocks

Pat dry your chicken and dredge it in seasoned flour. (I use a local variety (Big Spring Mill of Elliston, Va.*) but House-Autry is much more widely available and will create the desired flavor.

*Other products from Virginia's Best Catalog Group are available from these websites:

Virginia's Best (www.vabest.com) 
South's Best (www.southsbest.com) 
Yankee Best(www.yankeebest.com)

T J West (www.tjwest.com)

Alternatively, you can make your own seasoned flour, but it's a bit trickier. It's not something you can do correctly the first time unless you're really good with flavoring.)

Let your chicken rest for at least 20 minutes while you heat your oil. It can rest either at room temperature or in the fridge. After about 10 minutes, you can put a second coat of flour on to produce a thicker, crispier crust, but it's personal preference on this.

A word on oils: I use Crisco or Wesson, but just about any kind of oil will fry chicken. I don't tend to use olive oil, coconut oil or peanut oil because they have low smoke points, but any conventional oil is fair game.

Make sure you have a pot of sufficient depth so that the chicken will be completely immersed in oil without splattering. (Some people prefer shallow frying, but I use deep frying, preferably in a heavy-bottomed pot with at least a couple of inches of oil inside. You can use a deep fryer instead, but make sure it has a temperature control. Fry Daddies (which have no temperature control) don't work well with chicken.)

Heat your oil to 350 degrees (use a candy thermometer to gauge the heat) and immerse your chicken into the hot oil. Breasts with bones and thighs tend to take longer to cook, so put them in first. Do not crowd your pan with chicken. Give each piece space to fry.

Turn your chicken at last once while frying. Wait about 5 minutes before you do.

Most chicken will fry to perfection in 10 to 20 minutes. It's done when clear juices run from the pieces. drain on absorbent paper or a rack and let it sit for at least 3-4 minutes.

Additional tip From Forsbergacct2000

My mother uses a half fry/ half bake method with great results. She uses a procedure close to Steven's (although she uses seasoned bread crumbs.)

She leaves the chicken in the oil long enough to brown, and then transfers it to the oven to complete the cooking process.

I used two boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into finger like pieces.  They didn’t turn out like Colonel Saunders Kentucky Fried chicken (not as crisp or dark brown) but the chicken was perfectly tender, and juicy (Brining plus the buttermilk?)

Guacamole (called guacamol in Central America and Cuba) is an avocado-based relish or dip.
 

It is of Aztec origin, and was valued for its high fat and vitamin content. Guacamole was originally made by mashing the avocado with a molcajete (a type of mortar and pestle) and adding tomatoes and salt. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, guacamole became popular in Spain.. The name is derived from two Mexican Spanish via Aztec Nahuatl words - ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce).

The trick to perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.
 

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat.

Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated.

Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash.

Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving with tortilla chips.

Variations in technique and ingredients:

For a very quick "guac" just take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.

You don't need to have tomatoes in your guacamole.

Add Olive oil.

To extend a limited supply of avocados, add either sour cream or cottage cheese to your guacamole dip.

Add 1-2 Serrano chilies, stems and seeds removed, minced

Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

'Tis the Season for:

EGGNOG

You can add to the store bought variety rum or brandy or bourbon or rum and brandy!!  Or you can use some of the AskAndy Member's recipes:

LongWing

My wife would not be happy that I'm posting this, but here goes:

1 dozen eggs
1 qt whipping cream
1 box powdered sugar
light rum
cognac
ground nutmeg
ground cinnamon

All ingredients should be cold, including beaters and bowls.

Separate eggs. Place yolks in a bowl and beat adding sugar slowly. As yolks get thick, cut lightly with first brandy then rum, repeat. Continue beating, adding sugar until all sugar has been added to the yolks.

Add 1 pint of cream, mixing in gently.

Whip 1 pint of cream and fold in gently.

Beat egg whites and fold in very gently.

Place the bowl in a larger bowl and surround with ice (it is nice if the inside bowl is silver).

To serve, you can place more run or brandy in the cup (optional) and ladle in the nog. Sprinkle w/ nutmeg and cinnamon.

nringo

A friend of mine gave me this recipe and I've been making it for several years. Great stuff!

beat 6 eggs (or egg beaters) and 1 cup of sugar in large bowl
add 3 tablespoons vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and a pinch of salt, 6 cups of light cream (or half and half), 3/4 cup bourbon, and 1/3 cup dark rum
stir thoroughly let sit in fridge for 24 hours stir and serve topped with sprinkled nutmeg and whipped cream

Falstaff