A couple of CSA members have asked me about freezing/storing the fresh chickens. They are fine in the fridge for 3-5 days, I have cooked mine up to 7 days after getting. I always rinse inside and outside and pat them dry before cooking regardless. If you are going to freeze, I think best to do so whole, in their cryovac. If you are on a budget, the best way to get the most from your chicken in my opinion is to roast it whole. I do this with the damaged birds too.
I am no chef by any means, but a chef did teach me to roast chickens this way and it does make for pretty foolproof crispy skin and not-overdone flesh.
- Rinse and pat dry, including the inside. I like to let my chicken sit out, drying and coming to room temperature for about 20-30 min before cooking
- Preheat oven to 400
- Cut off the head, wings, and feet and put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer for later
- Fork-mash about 2TB softened butter, salt and dried herbs (lavender, rosemary, sage, oregano, all good).
- Massage the chicken all over with the paste
- Heat a cast iron skillet on high on the stove
- Drop the chicken in to brown all over, starting on its sides, then breast etc. Skip the back. A pair of tongs inside cavity will help turn it, or hold it in position for browning
- When skin is just slightly crispy, put pan in hot oven. Sometimes I roast the chicken on a rack in the cast iron pan and put potatoes and carrots around it to roast in the fat, with a little extra olive oil. Yum.
- Roast until when you tip the chicken forward out of the cavity, the juices are no longer bloody. About 25 minutes. You can cut into thigh joint at that point to check for doneness. I personally prefer to cut off thighs and put them back in oven separately if they need more cooking, I hate dry breast meat
- When done remove bird from oven, let rest 5 minutes on a rack over a plate to collect juices. Return cast iron pan to stove top. Deglaze with white wine or stock, scraping pan. Toss in a bit of butter and salt, any juices from chicken resting plate, and stir for chicken gravy.
- Eat what you want off bird, and then pick off the rest to store for salad, chicken sandwiches, tacos etc for the next few days. My husband and I usually manage 3-4 meals off one SFF roast chicken.
- Let the carcass cool off and then toss it in the freezer bag with the head and feet. Roasted carcasses make the best stock — much richer flavor. I collect two or three and then just make a bunch at once.
I sent this out to the CSA email list and immediately got many replies. (From now on, I’m only going to post recipes on the blog so as to keep email traffic to a minimum.)
Haven corrected my technique slightly:
Bonnie’s basic chicken roasting method is terrific. I submit one adjustment: truss the chicken before roasting.
Rationale: according to Michael Ruhlman, trussing a chicken prevents moisture loss, particularly important when you’re roasting a pastured chicken, which of course we SFF CSA members are.
If you don’t truss it, stuff it with half a lemon to produce a similar effect plus the perfume of a lemon.
I often don’t stuff it because it cooks faster that way and I have ot had a problem with dryness. I did forget to mention that after browning it, I do usually stuff half a lemon and some fresh herbs in the cavity and truss it before finishing in the oven.
Meanwhile, Stefan replied: “I seared my damaged chicken and stewed it with roasted and deglazed root vegetables in plenty of water- it made a divine soup once the meat fell off the bones!” Soul Food CSA member Lisa P wrote that she bought a countertop rotisserie like this one specifically for cooking my pastured chicken. “My chicken cooked in 90 minutes and it came out perfect, I was very pleased.”
from Alix:
You are going to get as many methods as there are cooks, but I like Judy Rodgers’ method (from Zuni Café): she salts it at least one day in advance, pretty liberally, then loosely covers it and refrigerates it. It requires no prior browning before putting it in a hot oven, and you don’t add any fat or truss it (just fold the wings under so the tips don’t burn), so it’s about as simple as simple can be. The details and gorgeous photos are here at this blog post.
Angi said:
I’m new to the CSA, so haven’t actually gotten any chickens yet. But since there’s a discussion on chicken roasting, I thought I’d contribute my recent discovery of an awesome roast chicken recipe. It’s super simple — start with dry chicken, put two lemons which have been pricked all over with holes into the cavity, truss/sew shut, and roast. No extra fat, nothing. And the result is a super moist chicken with fragrant lemon flavors. Yum! I’ve tried this recipe twice and both times it was a hit. I actually change the recipe by salting overnight (something I learned from making Zuni Cafe’s roast chicken recipe) instead of waiting the 10 minutes for the chicken juices to drain out. And I just use a small paring knife to stab the lemons all over instead of carefully poking little holes in them.
And from Jane F:
Below is a tried and true recipe I’ve been using for a while now. The chicken is cooked similar to a traditional Peking duck and not that complicated. I like this recipe because I seem to always have all the ingredients on hand and always end up w/ an impressive looking & great tasting chicken. If I don’t have mushrooms, thick slices of potatoes works just as well. It’s great that your veggies cooks at the same time w/ lots of tasty sauce (drippings) all in one roasting pan.
Peking-Style Roast Chicken
In his version of the traditional Chinese duck recipe, Jacques Pepin blanches the chicken before roasting. The dip in boiling water eliminates some of the fat and also tightens the skin, which helps it to crisp and brown when it is roasted. Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 (4-pound) chicken, wishbone removed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco hot pepper sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 12 ounces small button mushrooms
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions:
1. Bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, fold the wings of the chicken behind its back, and truss with kitchen twine to help maintain the bird’s tight shape.
2. Lower the chicken, breast down, into the boiling water. Return the water to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water is boiling (in about 3 minutes), reduce the heat to low and simmer the chicken gently for 5 minutes. Drain; place the chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan or large saucepan.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the honey, soy sauce, Tabasco, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Brush the chicken on all side with the honey mixture. Roast in the 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
4. Brush the breast side of the chicken with the honey mixture, then turn the chicken over on the rack and brush its back. Roast, breast side down, for another 30 minutes.
5. Arrange the mushrooms in one layer under the rack in the pan and add the water. Turn the chicken breast side up, brush it with the remaining honey mixture, and roast another 15 minutes.
6. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Pour the accumulated pan juices and the mushrooms in a 4-cup saucepan. Let rest for 2 to 3 minutes, then spoon off as much fat from the surface as possible.
7. Cut the chicken into serving pieces, and serve with the degreased juices and the mushrooms.
*Removing the wishbone prior to cooking makes it easier to carve the breast out for slicing evenly. You can also skip this part if you like.
My favorite comment, however, came from former JoJo chef Curt Clingman:
Alix has it right from the start, ‘You are going to get as many methods as there are cooks”, and that point any cook should remember anytime they are in doubt, there are a bizillion ways to cook a chicken and there are a bizillion things to cook, it’s all good if you start with quality stuff and you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t dig that.
Feel free to leave your favorite recipes (or links to them) in the comments!
