On tonight's menu is a roasted chicken. Buying a whole roaster is great for a lot of reasons: it is less expensive than just buying chicken breasts, you get a ton of meat for the price, roasted chicken is about as low calorie as you can make chicken, and the leftovers are great for during the week when things get crazy!
Sometimes I buy the "ready-to-roast" chickens, those are great. They come with their own little roasting bag all ready to go and you just pop them in the oven. If anyone is turned off by this recipe that I'm outlining, try that instead!
The essential step to this recipe is to brine the chicken. You've probably heard of this technique, it's mostly used for Thanksgiving day turkeys to infuse moisture and flavor into the bird. The good news is, it also works amazingly with chicken! (Or any other poultry for that matter.) I looked online to find some more technical info on brining and here's what I found:
Have you ever wondered how restaurants make chicken taste so much better than it does at home? The answer is by using a chicken brine. Brining a chicken or brining a turkey is so simple and it makes the biggest difference of anything you can do to make your chicken or turkey taste better. A turkey brine or chicken brine makes chicken taste so good because it improves the two most important things, the meat becomes juicier and it has more flavor.
The magical ingredient in a brine is salt. When a chicken or turkey is placed in the denser salty water brine, the water density of the chicken will want to increase to the same level as the water it's sitting in. The brine water forces it's way into the meat bringing along all the flavors you added to it. Marinating a chicken or turkey doesn't do this. A marinade only flavors the skin of the meat, it doesn't flavor or moisten all the way through the meat like a brine.I'm not very exact with this recipe, (as with a lot of my cooking) I just "wing" it. (Double-reference to the chicken wings? Sure!)
What You'll Need:
1 whole chicken roaster (mine are usually around 6 lbs.)
2 large roasting bags (you can usually find them with the ziploc bags and plastic wrap!)
1 gallon water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
tons of kosher sea salt (You'd want the water to be as salty as the ocean!)
4 tablespoons parsley
4 tablespoons garlic powder
How You'll Do It:
1. Rinse chicken and remove giblets if necessary. Bring water and all other ingredients to a boil in a saucepan.
2. Continue boiling brine until all the salt has dissolved into the water. Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool.
3. Place chicken in one of the roasting bags and fill with the saltwater mixture.
4. Place the bagged chicken into the fridge for atleast 4 hours. (Overnight is preferable) Periodically turn the bag over to make sure the brine is getting to all parts of the chicken.
5. When you are ready to cook, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and pull the chicken out of the bag. Rinse and pat the chicken dry and place into the 2nd roasting bag. Dress the chicken however you'd prefer. (I know people like to put pats of butter under the skin, or season it with different spices. I usually stick some garlic powder and parsley underneatth the skin)
6. Cook for 20 minutes per pound, plus 15-20 minutes. (So with the chicken I'm cooking tonight, I've got it in for 135 minutes. I've read that brined meat cooks faster, but I usually stick to the recommended times just to make sure nothing is undercooked.)
7. Once cooked, pull the chicken out and allow to rest for atleast 20 minutes. (I know it's hard, but don't skip this step! It helps the chicken retain all the awesome juiciness you brined into it.)
8. Enjoy!
I'm not great with taking pictures, but this is definitely going to be a photographic meal tonight! I'm serving it with sweet potatos and carrots for the perfect healthy & satisfying meal. I know Evan can't wait to come home and eat his favorite part - the legs! I'm looking forward to eating one of the breasts, I'm a white meat gal myself. :)
PLUS, we always have tons of leftovers to incorporate into other dishes. For instance, we love making chicken quesadillas! Chicken salad and cold sandwiches are also great uses for the leftovers.
Good luck brining!
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