I hate fruit in my food. HATE it. But last night I wanted to roast a chicken and I had no onions to stuff the cavity with, so I decided to go ahead and use a Red Delicious apple. I figured it couldn't do too much damage.
Let me tell you, it was the BEST damn roast chicken I've ever made! Maybe the best I've ever had. Not only did the apple make my house smell incredible, but it also lent a subtle flavor to the chicken without making it too sweet. Yummy! Needless to say, this is definitely worth repeating! And for anyone who wants to know how to make a foolproof roast chicken, here you go:
Preheat the oven to 250°F (this is NOT a typo - just 250°). Thoroughly rinse your chicken and pat it dry. Sprinkle the outside and cavity liberally with salt and pepper, and any other spices you might like. I just used salt and pepper this time. {Note: if you would like the spice rub used for Roast Sticky Chicken, let me know} Core and slice a Red Delicious apple and stuff into the cavity. Alternately, you *could* use a quartered onion, but this was better.
Place the chicken on a shallow roasting pan and cook for 5 hours. After the first hour, baste every 30 minutes. There may not be enough (or any) drippings for the first basting, in which case you should toss a few tablespoons of butter or margarine into the pan to melt, and use that. At the end of the 5 hours, let the chicken rest for 10 minutes or so.
Roasting the chicken slowly at a low temperature cooks it *beautifully* without drying it out. A word of warning though: it will be so tender that it will LITERALLY fall off the bone, so be careful when transferring it to your serving dish. Cooking it this way and basting as often as the recipe calls for also makes some INSANELY delicious, crispy skin. But of course, I'm not allowed to eat that. Stupid Weight Watchers. Grumble grumble...
Happy roasting, kids!
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5 comments:
YUM, that sounds so good! I'm gonna try it. :-) Thanks!
That's some delicious-sounding recipe! I'm like you: I don't like fruit in savoury food, but apple's something else - it's tart enough. And it caramelises, doesn't it? (Oh, I'm starting to salivate. LOL!) :-)
Yes, the skin carmelizes and the drippings are fantastic! It would make an insanely good gravy, but I couldn't yield to that temptation - not exactly Weight Watchers friendly :~P
Huh. I think my friend L (the only person who ever said to me "I'm boning a chicken" and didn't laugh but understood when I did) just shoves the whole thing right in the end, like a plug. Then the apple is discarded.
She did this for a turkey she was helping my hubby cook (since I don't know jack about cooking meat).
Anyway, if he ever decided to cook a chicken, I'll give him your trick. ♥
I hate fruit and meat together but this sounds like a good thing to try!
How is WW going Trina?
I'm struggling with control. Maybe we should talk.
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