Chicken= 4 meals Part 1

After I first discovered the vast and wondrous world of food blogging I knew that I wanted to start writing my own .See the thing I love about  food blogs (and I've mentioned this to many of my friends) is that anymore the internet and bookstores are filled with millions of collections of recipes and there's almost no way for the average home cook to know that the cookbook they just bought or the recipe they printed out that Google helped them find is any good; but a food blog is written by an actual person who tries out recipes, takes pictures, and offers advice and tips, practically test driving a recipe for you. And in this economy it's important that nothing go to waste ; such as that recipe you printed off that somehow turned into an inedible monstrosity that went straight into the trash after your dog passed out at the smell of it; so that is the theme of my very first post ever: how to make one meal turn into 4.
One skill that I think everyone should learn at one point in their lives (the sooner the better) is how to utilize an entire chicken because 1. it's inexpensive and available in all regions year round and 2. an entire chicken can go a loooong way. I personally fed four people fours times with one chicken and a couple inexpensive ingredients. However this first post will focus on the first thing everyone learns to do with a whole chicken : trussing and roasting it.

Lemon Roasted Chicken (5 lbs) w/optional brine   Preheat Oven : 325 F
Whole Chicken (approx. 5lbs)
Onion                     1
Lemon                    1
Garlic                     1 head
Rosemary               Sprig
Thyme                    Sprig
Butter(room temp.)Approx. 1/2 stick (or 1/4 cup)

Equipment:
Cake or roasting pan (large enough to hold chicken)
Butchers Twine (for trussing)
Aluminum Foil
Thermometer

1. Slice lemon and onion in such a way that you can layer them onto the bottom of your roasting pan and still have a fairly flat surface on which to rest your chicken. Once they are layered set aside.

2.Mince garlic and herbs , and mix them into your butter. Rub butter mixture into and all over your chicken.

3. Truss your chicken. If you've never done this before go to :http://www.chow.com/stories/10322

4. Place chicken on top of lemon/onion bed breast side up and cover in aluminum foil tent (maybe you've seen your mother do this to a thanksgiving turkey).

5. Place in oven and roast for 2 hours. Remove the foil for the last 20 minutes.

Once your chicken is done roasting take it out of the oven and let it rest* for about 20 minutes before serving.

 

I served mine with a simple romaine salad.

*letting a chicken or and any kind of large roasted meat item rest after cooking is important for maintaining juiciness.


Optional Brine:
Brining is a great way to add moisture and flavor to meat before you cook it.
4 C. Cold Water
4 C.  Boiling water
1/2 C. Kosher Salt (use diamond crystal brand if available)
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
seasonings (optional)


1. Bring water to a boil and dissolve salt and sugar in it.

2. In a large and deep bowl pour boiled water solution, add cold water. (with finger test to make sure the water isn't hot before you add in your meat.

3. Submerge, in this case, your chicken completely.

4. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

5. Remove chicken from container and rinse lightly under running water. Discard brine.

                                                         Now you're ready to cook!