Roasted Chicken, Take One

I've never roasted a chicken before. I thought it was about time I gave it a go. Why not when roaster chickens were on sale for $.88/pound? Usually, when I try something new, I like to have Mrblocko around for moral support. That was the plan, but he was unexpectedly detained at work. I was on my own. I gave myself a little pep talk and told myself "You can do this!"

The recipe I used came from Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake. Her recipe is called Martha's Perfect Roast Chicken. It's adapted from Good ol' Martha Stewart. She's gotta know a thing or two about cooking. Doesn't she? At least the people who she pays to write her recipe's should. The recipe seemed simple enough....I followed the recipe VERY carefully. I didn't have a lemon so I stuffed the bird with an orange instead. Not a major change. Certainly nothing that would alter how the chicken cooked in the oven.

Desperately in need of some encouragement, I called my best friend MrsThunder. She's never roasted a chicken either, at least not successfully. (There was an incident with a roaster chicken and a crockpot. Let's just say things did not go as planned.) Specifically, I wanted to know if she thought it would be ok to use white embroidery thread instead of twine to truss the chicken. She agreed that it would be a suitable substitute. Then we got to talking about how I was cooking the chicken. She asked what I had my oven set to. I told her the recipe said 450. There was a slight intake of air and she said, "That seems kind of high." She went on her computer and did a quick search on roasting chicken and most recipes she found said to cook the bird around 350-375. By this time I was 30 minutes into a 50 minute cook time. I think I said something like, "Well, wish me luck."

I took the chicken out of the oven after 50 minutes and stuck my meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, like the recipe instructed. The temp read 180. I panicked. The recipe said that the temp should read 165. I worried that I had ruined it and overcooked the chicken. The chicken sat for 20 minutes (10 minutes longer than the recipe stated). I cut into the breast and nice clear liquid came out. That's a good sign I thought. Doesn't it look pretty?Then, pinkish liquid oozed out as I started removing pieces of meat. It pooled up and over my cutting board, down the counter, down the cabinets and on the floor. I grabbed a bowl and held it under the rim of the counter to catch the juices. I yelled for Blockette to come and hold the bowl. She started freaking out and said, "Mommy the chicken is NEVER going to stop leaking! Why is the chicken leaking???!!"

I transferred the chicken to a lasagna pan so it could catch the juices and I could still continue to carve it. I relieved Blockette from her juice catching duties and proceeded to clean up the huge mess in the kitchen. As I resumed carving the bird, I found the meat in the center was not completely cooked. I shrugged my shoulders and continued massacring the carcass and put all the chicken in a bowl.

We couldn't very well have chicken and gravy for dinner, not without serious hazard to our digestive tracts. I took half the chicken I removed from the bones and tossed it into a skillet with some taco seasoning and water. Viola, we had chicken tacos for dinner, with plenty left over for um...leftovers. The other half I divided in half again and mixed one part with BBQ sauce and the other with Peking sauce. I separated them into individual portions, and froze them for Mrblocko to take with him to work for lunch.

I really wanted this to work and I can't figure out why it didn't. Obviously it worked for Rebecca at Ezra Pound Cake or she wouldn't have posted it on her blog. Maybe it's my oven? Next time I'm going to cook the roaster chicken at a lower temp for a longer time. Hopefully that will be the solution! I'll also make sure that Mrblocko is around to lend a hand so I don't have to traumatize our 4 year old again with an endlessly leaking chicken. Bawk Bawk!


Martha's Perfect Roast Chicken from Ezra Pound Cake
For the Chicken:
1 fresh whole chicken (about 4 pounds)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
4 sprigs rosemary
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature


For Pan Sauce:
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

To Prepare the Chicken: Heat oven to 450 F. Remove giblets and liver from cavity; discard. Let chicken rest at room temperature 1 hour. Trim excess fat from cavity. Rinse chicken thoroughly under cold water, inside and out, then pat dry, making sure the cavity is as dry as possible. Season cavity with salt and pepper, then stuff with lemon, rosemary and garlic. Rub skin with 2 tablespoons butter. Tie chicken’s legs together with twine. Season all over generously with salt and pepper.

To Roast: Place chicken in a large ovenproof skillet or small roasting pan (fitted with rack, if desired). Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 F, 50 to 55 min. Transfer chicken to a platter. Let rest 10 minu.

To Make Pan Sauce: Spoon and discard fat from juices in pan; pour accumulated juices in chicken cavity and plate into pan. Place pan over med-high heat. Pour in wine or stock to deglaze pan, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced by half, then pour through a small fine sieve into a liquid measuring cup. Return to skillet and add 1 tablespoon butter, swirling pan until melted and incorporated. Carve chicken and serve with pan sauce.