RCP: Hybrid Roast Chicken

[David M. Bueker]

It runs on electricity or gasoline...

No. I called this hybrid because I took elements from about 6 recipes I found on-line and did a roast chicken in my own way last night.

Rinse and dry the bird
Rub down the entire bird with smashed garlic cloves.
Apply a bit of olive oil to the skin, then liberal salt and pepper both inside and out.
Stuff the cavity with a halved head of garlic, carrots and thyme
Roast in a 375 degree oven until about 165 degrees at the thigh - adding some carrots and onions to the pan about half way through.

I liked it. My guests liked it. The cats liked it (most important...). The garlic on the skin worked out really well.

[Robin Garr]

It runs on electricity or gasoline...

Thank Bacchus! I saw your header and envisioned a Baco Noir marinade. :p

Thanks for the recipe, David. Looks great. I rarely roast a chicken "in the round" any more, I'm so smitten with the crispy results when you cut out the backbone and butterfly the bird flat before roasting, but this procedure makes me think it would be worth going back to the traditional method every now and then.

[David M. Bueker]

I haven't gotten around to learning how to take the backbone out of a chicken. Maybe someday.

[Robin Garr]

I haven't gotten around to learning how to take the backbone out of a chicken. Maybe someday.

Nuthin' to learn, if you've got a sturdy pair of kitchen scissors and aren't troubled by arthritis. Snip down one side of the backbone. Snip down the other. Discard or use for stock. Take the rest of the chicken, spread it out flat, and if you wish, give it a satisfying whack to flatten it a little more. Job's done.

With a cornish hen, you can just cut right down the center of its puny little backbone and leave it intact.

[Jenise]

Robin, if one's going to make a sauce from the fond, the backbone (like the neck and gizzard) can be roasted alongside the bird to contribute to the greater good. The way I'd write the recipe would go, "remove the bird. Eat the gizzard. Nibble the skin off the backbone and throw it and the neck away....")

That aside, I do chickens both ways. If I backbone it, I tend to marinate it well in advance. If I don't, I cook it "on the round" as you put it and stuff it with aromatics like David did.

Good job, David.