Mason-Dixon Recipes

Roast Chicken

The American poultry industry had made it possible to grow a fine-looking fryer in record time and sell it at a reasonable price, but no one mentioned that the result usually tasted like the stuffing inside of a teddy bear.

         — Julia Child

Chickens have been found in ancient civilizations as far back as 2000 BC. At that time, there is evidence that chickens had been domesticated in Southeast Asia. It probably had as much to do with the adaptability of chickens to different environments rather than their delectability. By the time of the Roman Empire, spices and herbs entered the picture and cooks found many ways to cook chicken, giving them a popularity that has stretched across time to this very day.

in the early part of the last century, beef was Americas most consumed meat, but that changed by the end of the century. By 1990, chicken had taken over as the most consumed meat. This was because chickens were at one time a luxury meat. Cows could feed on grass, pigs could feed on garbage, but chickens needed grain.

With some of today's hormone-fed chicken, its almost impossible to get good tasting chicken. The options for cooking chicken are primarily deep frying, pan frying, grilling, broiling, and baking (roasting). Roasting chicken is a healthier option than frying chicken and its certainly the easiest of all means of cooking chicken other than deep frying. The others require constant attention. Deep frying doesn't, but owning a deep fryer is more expensive.

Oven roasting chicken also has a better flavor profile and higher versatility, meaning you can season it in such different ways to adapt it to different cuisines. Then, there's the leftovers, which hold up better flavor- and texture-wise.

INGREDIENTS

1 chicken roaster
2 heads garlic
¹/₄ cup olive oil

Flavored Butter:
2 sticks of butter, softened
¹/₂ tsp coarse salt
¹/₄ tsp pepper
1 tbsp parsley, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¹/₂ tsp smoked paprika

DIRECTIONS

Never wash your chicken. It’s unhygienic and it will stop the skin from crisping. Use plenty of butter to keep the chicken moist. Make a flavored butter if you can, but using just butter will still produce great results. To make a flavored butter, mash the butter with the salt and pepper using a fork and then with a hand mixer, cream in parsley, garlic, and paprika.

Tuck ³/₄ of flavored butter under the skin of the chicken, then salt the top. Wait, you can't just say tuck under the skin and then move on to the next thing. Okay, so you place the chicken with the cavity facing you. Carefully lift the skin by inserting the tips of your middle three fingers underneath the skin, lifting it away from one breast, using your other hand to keep the skin taught so it doesn't tear. Slip the flavored butter under the skin, massaging it to evenly distribute it over the breast. Then repeat for the other breast.

Okay, back to salting the top. Then cover the legs with the remains flavored butter. Stuff cavity with a lemon or two. Truss the chicken by cutting a small hole in each skin flaps at the entrance to the cavity. Tuck the legs into the opposite holes. It's important to truss the chicken because it holds the moisture inside the chicken when cooking.

Place the chicken in large iron skillet and tuck wings against the chicken. Cut the 2 heads of garlic in half and place them, skins and all. against the chicken. Drizzle olive oil over garlic.

Bake in oven for 45 min at 450 degrees, occasionally basting.

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