This week's challenge is:
Chicken and Lemon
Not too difficult here. :)
Happy Cooking!
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The trials and tribulations of a semi-gourmet home cook. Occasional culinary challenges too!
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About Me
- Clawed
- 30s guy living in LA needing an outlet for his culinary experimentations and ramblings.
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Here's my creation for the week -- nothing too out there, just good home cooking.
Lemon and Herb Rotisserie Chicken
For the chicken:
1 whole chicken, fleshy parts trimmed and wishbone removed
1 lemon
1 ts each chopped fresh parsley, thyme, and sage
5 cloves garlic
1 large onion
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
brown sugar
For the gravy:
1 1/2 cups brown chicken stock
3 TS all purpose flour
2 TS unsalted butter
lemon zest
white wine
salt and pepper
8-12 hours before roasting, place the trimmed chicken in a zip lock bag with a brine made out of salt, brown sugar, lemon zest (NOT juice), and water. Rule of thumb, the salt ratio in a brine is about 1/2 cup Kosher salt per gallon of water. I like to use about a 4:3 ratio of salt to sugar in mine. Put the chicken in the fridge, and let sit through the day.
When you're getting ready to cook, bring out the bird from the fridge, remove from brine, pat down with paper towels, and let warm up on the counter for 15-20 minutes. During this time, season it as follows. Turn on your grill to preheat. I turn all three burners on and the rotisserie burner and close the lid. The point is to get the grill as hot as it'll go.
Liberally salt and pepper the inside cavity of the bird and then stuff with a quarter of the onion a couple cloves of garlic, and half a carrot stick, and celery.
Mix together the olive oil, herbs, zest from 1 lemon, 2 TS lemon juice, 2 crushed and minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper in a bowl. Remove the wishbone from the chicken using a paring knife -- this will make carving the bird easier later.
Using your fingers, gently lift up the skin from the breasts until you can easily slide your hand underneath. Don't tear it. Take the oil mixture from above and spoon some under the skin. Rub gently but well. Repeat this process for the entire bird. If you cut of the Parson's nose (the flappy thing on the bird's butt), you'll have easier access to the thighs and legs. if there's anything left, rub the outside of the bird with it. If not, use plain olive oil. Salt and pepper the outside of the bird.
Truss it up and put on rotesserie skewer. Make sure it's on TIGHT. Put in on the grill with all the burners still going and turn on the rotisserie. If the bird catches fire a bit, that's ok. Let it get a quick sear for about 3 minutes with the lid closed, and then turn off two of the three burners, and turn the one farthest from the bird down to low, leaving the rotisserie burner.
You don't need to baste this bird since it's constantly rotating. Check on it at 15-20minute intervals to make sure it's cooking evenly. About 30 minutes into roasting, place a pan with sliced onions, carrots, and celery underneath the bird to catch the drippings. Cook until the fleshy part of the bread reads 160 on your meat thermometer. Remove from grill, and take down to carving board and loosely cover with foil.
Remove the veggies from the drippings pan and then pour off the excess fat. Place the pan on a burner and brown (not burn) the drippings/fond. Add 1 1/2 cup of brown chicken stock and deglaze the pan, whisking up all of the fond. Add roux made out of 2 TS unsalted butter and 3 TS AP flour. Whisk together and add a touch of white wine for flavor/acidity along with a bit of lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste and pour into a gravy boat. It should be nice and creamy.
Carve the bird serve it with the roasted veggies and a starch of choice, and you have dinner! FYI, I find that it's more elegant to carve any bird by removing the entire breast in one piece (that's why we removed the wish bone), and then to slice the breast on a bias into nice pieces.
Happy cooking!
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