Recipe: Lemony Chicken
Mar. 25th, 2009 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraaToday I was very productive! I broke down four chickens -- half a chicken (butterflied and split) set aside for dinner tonight, and the rest broken down into seven legs (drumstick and thigh together, with skin on and bone in), seven breasts (boneless and skinless) and seven wings (set aside together in a bag for making buffalo wings at some future point), plus a full gallon bag of giblets and bones for stock, and a good pint of chicken skins that are currently rendering down for fat. (I'll use the chicken fat to confit three of the legs tomorrow.)
It took about an hour all told, and now I have schmaltz, stock-makings, and a lot of meat for dinners.
Then I used the half-chicken I'd saved to make lemon chicken. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jmpava and I have found that half a chicken is about right for dinner for us, so unless I have a plan for the extra roast chicken meat, I butterfly and split a chicken and then cook just that much.)
Lemony Butterflied Chicken
Serves two admirably. To serve four, butterfly the chicken but don't split it.
Butterfly and split the chicken: using a sturdy knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut the backbone out of the chicken, so that you can lie it flat. This is called butterflying the chicken. If you're only serving two, flip the chicken over (skin side down) and use the knife or kitchen shears to split the butterflied chicken in half through the center of the breast. You can save the other half for another dinner, or break it down into chicken and leg parts, or whatever you want.
In a big bowl, dissolve the 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar in a little boiling water (say, half a cup), and add the bay leaf. Let steep for 15 minutes or so, then add cold water and the chicken. Let brine an hour or so.
Zest the lemons into a small bowl. (To zest: to grate off just the colored part of the peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith.) Mix with the remaining tbsp salt and brown sugar.
When the chicken has finished brining, remove from the liquid and pat dry. Using your fingers, gently loosen the skin, and rub the zest-sugar-salt mixture under the skin, on top of the chicken flesh. Put the chicken in a roasting pan or other large, deep oven-safe dish. Heat the oven to 450F, and let the chicken sit in the pan with the lemon-sugar-salt rub until the oven has heated.
Right before you put the chicken in the oven, squeeze the juice of the three lemons you zested into the pan and pour in the chicken broth. The liquid should come up to the skin of the chicken thigh; if it doesn't, add water until it does. Put the chicken in the oven and cook until the thigh meat registers about 170F.
Remove from the oven. Pull the chicken out of the pan and put on a plate and let rest. Meanwhile, pour the pan juices into a saucepan and skim off the fat. (If you have a fat separator, you can use that.) Boil the juices until reduced to about 1 cup. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in a little water, then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the juices and boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, and serve as a gravy with the chicken.
I served it with orzo risotto (whole-wheat orzo pasta, cooked like a rice risotto), and a salad made of beets, carrots and red onions, cut in big pieces, roasted until tender, and tossed with honey mustard.
It took about an hour all told, and now I have schmaltz, stock-makings, and a lot of meat for dinners.
Then I used the half-chicken I'd saved to make lemon chicken. (
jmpava and I have found that half a chicken is about right for dinner for us, so unless I have a plan for the extra roast chicken meat, I butterfly and split a chicken and then cook just that much.)Lemony Butterflied Chicken
Serves two admirably. To serve four, butterfly the chicken but don't split it.
- 1 roasting chicken (you'll only eat half now)
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp salt
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 lemons, well washed
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, or homemade stock
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp butter
Butterfly and split the chicken: using a sturdy knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut the backbone out of the chicken, so that you can lie it flat. This is called butterflying the chicken. If you're only serving two, flip the chicken over (skin side down) and use the knife or kitchen shears to split the butterflied chicken in half through the center of the breast. You can save the other half for another dinner, or break it down into chicken and leg parts, or whatever you want.
In a big bowl, dissolve the 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar in a little boiling water (say, half a cup), and add the bay leaf. Let steep for 15 minutes or so, then add cold water and the chicken. Let brine an hour or so.
Zest the lemons into a small bowl. (To zest: to grate off just the colored part of the peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith.) Mix with the remaining tbsp salt and brown sugar.
When the chicken has finished brining, remove from the liquid and pat dry. Using your fingers, gently loosen the skin, and rub the zest-sugar-salt mixture under the skin, on top of the chicken flesh. Put the chicken in a roasting pan or other large, deep oven-safe dish. Heat the oven to 450F, and let the chicken sit in the pan with the lemon-sugar-salt rub until the oven has heated.
Right before you put the chicken in the oven, squeeze the juice of the three lemons you zested into the pan and pour in the chicken broth. The liquid should come up to the skin of the chicken thigh; if it doesn't, add water until it does. Put the chicken in the oven and cook until the thigh meat registers about 170F.
Remove from the oven. Pull the chicken out of the pan and put on a plate and let rest. Meanwhile, pour the pan juices into a saucepan and skim off the fat. (If you have a fat separator, you can use that.) Boil the juices until reduced to about 1 cup. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in a little water, then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the juices and boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, and serve as a gravy with the chicken.
I served it with orzo risotto (whole-wheat orzo pasta, cooked like a rice risotto), and a salad made of beets, carrots and red onions, cut in big pieces, roasted until tender, and tossed with honey mustard.
