Don't Use Oven Bags
Forget roasting bags to keep your birds from drying out when you want to roast them! Brine them in a salty liquid with spices, garlic and lemons for poultry before you roast it. It works!
My post yesterday was telling you about brining a chicken. Last night I prepared the brine. Today I tried brining the chicken and roasting it.. .. It was perfectly cooked, and juicy, and had a wonderful flavor! Everyone just absolutely adored it!
You want to make the brine a day before and refrigerate it. It doesn’t do to add raw meat to a warm liquid.. Don’t leave the chicken in the brine more than 6 hours!
What do you need to do to make a chicken brine for a two and a half pound chicken?
- 1 gallon of water
- 1 cup of salt (I prefer sea salt)
- 1/4 and 2 tablespoons of honey
- 12 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup garlic gloves, skin left on, smashed
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 3 large sprigs of rosemary
- 1 large bunch of thyme sprigs
- 1 large bunch of Italian parsley springs (flat leaf parsley… or any parsley will do the job too)
- grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons (for chicken only)
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and cool completely before using.
Bouchon
This is a recipe from Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon” book.
To brine the chicken:
Rinse it under cold water. Then put it in the brine. Put some weight on top of it so it will stay submerged. I used two large plates. Let it swim for 6 hours.
To roast the chicken:
Preheat the oven to 475F
Remove the chicken from the brine. Rinse and dry it with paper towel.
Season the chicken insides with salt and pepper and then trust the bird.
Then place a ovenproof skillet over high heat, and when it is hot add a tablespoon of canola oil (vegetable oil). Then put the chicken breast side up in the skillet, and then into the oven with the legs facing the back of the oven.
Thomas Keller says that heating up the skillet will help keep the skin of the bird from sticking to them… it does! Thank you Tom Keller!
Roast for 40 minutes.
Electronic Thermometer
If you have a meat thermometer, push it in between the leg and the tight. Thomas Keller says that when you can read 165F it’s done. Personally I like my chicken a bit more cooked… so I upped to 180F. I got to use my nifty neato digital thermometer I bought at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in January when Tom and I visited the school. It’s so neat to have such an accurate instrument to cook with. I’m ordered their super accurate scale too… 
I then took it out of the oven. I added some thyme leaves and basted it all over the bird with the juices.
Let it sit for 10 minutes before carving.
It’s juicy and delicious.
I’ve learned a lot today. Soon I will be brining pork chops. It’s about the same brine, but without the lemons. But I’m sure I’m going to find out some variations soon.
A demain!
Gaby
