Roasted Chicken

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

I'm making roasted chicken for dinner tonight.  To prepare the chicken I put it in a brine this morning.  Letting it soak in the brine ahead of time will not only make the chicken super moist, but it allows me to flavor the inside of the meat, similarly to what a marinade would do, only better!

 

Prep Seasonings

I began by getting my seasonings ready.  You can use anything that you like to season your chicken with. I'm using fresh lemon, sage, rosemary and parsley. Melt a nob of butter with a couple tablespoons of olive oil over med heat in a saute pan.  Add the herbs to the pan to sauté for about 2 minutes. I left the herbs whole because I'm just using them in the brine, so I want to easily pick them out when I'm ready to roast the chicken. For about the last 30 seconds add 2 cloves minced garlic and stir for the remaining time, you don't want to burn the garlic.  Turn off the heat and let cool while you prep the chicken.

• You can easily skip this first step and just add fresh or dried herbs straight to your brine water.  I've never done this part before, but thought it would be fun to try.  I think I'm going to like the result though- my house has smelled amazing all day!

 

Prep Chicken

I would not recommend using frozen chicken breasts to brine, fresh would be good.  Today I'm using a whole chicken cut up, still on the bone. Rinse your chicken under cool water and place in a gallon ziploc bag.  I could use a bowl, but with a ziploc I can get all the air out.  Place the cooled herbs in the bag, along with 1 lemon halved, 1/4 c brown sugar, 1/4 c kosher salt, lots of freshly ground pepper and 3 cups cold water.  Close the bag and toss it in all directions to mix up all the ingredients.  Once it’s fully mixed open just a small sliver of the bag to squeeze the excess air out and reseal.  Place in a large bowl in your fridge for at least 2 hours, you can do this the night before if you like though.

When it's time to roast the chicken preheat your oven to 375F.  Remove chicken from the brine and discard brine. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.  Place on a roasting pan skin side up and give it a drizzle of olive oil and into the oven for 45m.

Basic Brine Recipe

¼ c brown sugar

¼ c kosher salt

3 c water