No injecting, brining or spatchcocking -- just a few spices, some chunks of fruits/vegetables and loop of twine makes a perfect, tender chicken for multiple uses.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken for roasting (usually about 5.5 lbs.)
1 egg
1/2 fennel bulb
1/2 lemon
1/2 red onion
Coarsely ground pepper
Lemon salt (recipe on this site)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and place a wire rack in the pan.
- Remove giblets from chicken and pat dry.
- Chop the fennel, lemon and onion into chunks. Stuff into the main cavity and neck cavity (this will season your chicken and juices, and encourage the chicken to keep its shape when cooking).
- Tie a long piece of twine horizontally around the middle of the chicken, using it to hold the wings against the bird. Loop it several times around the legs and tie loosely to bring the legs together and hold the fennel, lemon and onion inside.
- Beat egg in a small bowl and brush the outside of the chicken with the egg. Grind your pepper over every bit of the egg-covered skin, and sprinkle the chicken with lemon salt.
Cook & Serve:
Place chicken on the wire rack on the baking sheet. Put in 400 oven for about 60-70 minutes, until thermometer in meatiest part of bird, right above a leg, registers 165.
Carve as you would a turkey and serve with rice, vegetables, potatoes or a side dish of your choice. This is a tender, versatile chicken that can also be shredded and used in Mexican dishes like enchiladas and tacos, or chilled on salads, or added to soups.
A Little Backstory:
Actually, more of an additional suggestion than a backstory. This recipe makes a great chicken stock/broth. Here is what to do:
- Save the juice from the bottom of the baking pan. Pour through a sieve to get any bits out.
- After carving out the breasts, wings, legs and chicken you want to serve, put the entire carcass into a stock pot or deep pan (including the fennel, onion and lemon still inside of it). Cover with cold water.
- Chop up the rest of your fennel bulb, onion and lemon and add that to the pot. Also add 6-8 cloves of garlic, two bay leaves, 1 chopped up carrot, 2 chopped celery sticks, a Tablespoon of thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to boil, and continue boiling for an hour.
- Strain through a sieve and preserve the clear broth that's left. Add your chicken juices to the broth.
- Use this for soup (recipes on this site!) or simply add cooked rice noodles for a simple dish.
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