Roasting Chickens

[The empressof all]

Well I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I noticed my local market had chickens on sale for .59 a pound. These are local grown chickens not those Southern grown birds that spend days in refrigerator trucks and arrive at the market all pale and puny. These are the real deal chickens, plump and juicy looking. Please understand, I have nothing against chickens from the south. I just don't live there. If I did I'd want your chickens.

So I bought three and dragged out the big old Turkey Roaster. I filled them with at least 20 cloves of garlic each and a lemon. I decided to go simple with the seasoning so just did a healty dose of pepper and salt with a drizzle of olive oil.

Tonight I'll put the carcasses in the big crock pot to make stock. Tomorrow I'll be doing chicken enchiladas and chicken salad.

I'm planning a simple roast chicken dinner tonight as I have a burrata coming via Fed Ex today.

http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/search.asp?cat=51&qry=burrata&search.x=8&search.y=15

I got some beautiful greenhouse tomatoes on the vine and I'll be opening a bottle of Montepulciano (I like red wine!) I'm making a pesto dip with butter and cream cheese for the baguette SO will get from the bakery. All this with a Caesar Salad, what could be better? Probably, I'll just slice some strawberries for dessert.

Life in the kitchen is pretty good today.

[NMDemDist2]

1. yummy! and that cheese looks to die for

my in laws are coming today and I have no idea what to feed them, how lame is that?

my MIL picked up some kind of NASTY intestinal bug months ago when she was traveling and her diet has been pretty restricted so I'm kinda hanging til they get here to see if she's all better yet.

and I need to make some pesto this week for sure, my basil is just going nuts out there with the rain, warm evenings and hot days

[yy4me]

2. It might take me a while to get there but

can I come over for dinner? Sounds great! I haven't seen chickens for 59 a pound for ages. I think I'd fill my freezer with a couple. Boil up one for chicken pie, roast a couple. Chicken delight.

[wryter2000]

3. Yummy!

That sounds good. Enjoy.

I hope you have better luck with Fedex than I've had the last two weeks. The idiot drive couldn't find my house -- three times!

[grasswire]

4. me, too!

Local chickens, 59 cents. I bought three fat ones yesterday, and roasted them this way: garlic, butter, rosemary and sage leaves tucked under the skin, and lemon slices in the cavity and drizzled over the top. A grind of black pepper, and liberal salt.

They were just DEE-licious. People raved. Moist, flavorful, yum. They had to know what I did to keep them moist. This is my "secret" -- the liberal application of salt, and a hot oven temp -- 425. It makes a kind of crusty skin that holds in the juices.

There's one leg left, and the "oysters" are still in the carcasses. I think I need a snack.

[wildeyed]

9. I start mine very hot, breast side down,

then flip them over, let the breast brown for a few minutes, then turn the oven down to about 325. I get a lovely nut brown, juicy bird every time.

[mike_c]

5. oh man, this thread is utterly slaying me....

I don't have any chicken thawed and this thread has given me a VERY SERIOUS JONES.

[Tab]

6. I don't know about your local chickens

but my local supermarket (Hannafords, mainly a New England chain) carries the big fat Purdue and whoever else roasters, and then the smaller store-brand chickens.

I much prefer the store brand. The Purdue's are so heavy with breast meat that they're tasteless. I can cook chicken to great juiceiness, no matter what size, but I hate eating the Purdue's.

The small local ones, however, have a nicely balanced ratio of meat to everything else, and, although we don't get as much meat off of it, I think it's a million times better. I'd rather do two of those than one Purdue, and the cost would be about the same anyway. And, often, just one small one is all that's needed.

I usually rub them in kosher salt, brown them on both sides, then roast with herbs on the inside, and herbs and butter on the outside.

yum.

[The empressof all]

7. We don't have Purdue here in PNW

I remember them from when I lived in NYC. They were always a very odd yellow color. The birds I cooked today were in the 3 - 4 lb range which I think is on the small side. They were fabulous btw....but my cheese never came. I've never had problems with this company before but this is the second time time I didn't get the burrata. I'm crushed but dinner was great anyway.

[grasswire]

8. so the leftovers.....

.....went into a plate with the pan drippings and in the microwave for a couple of minutes to warm up. Then I toasted some couscous in butter in a saute pan, and added some chopped pecans, chicken broth and some curry powder and a squeeze of lemon juice.

It made a very satisfying plate of dinner.

But I think I'm going back to Freddy's Saturday for a few more chickens before the sale ends.