Thursday, February 16, 2017

Golden Roast Chicken - Feta Brined

I found this recipe on The NY Times Cooking Website
Attributed to Melissa Clark
Roast Chicken is popular with the Grandchildren, so I cooked it for them last night
I served it  sitting on a bed of Rocket
with crushed potatoes on the side
It was very popular with the kids
So tender, not a lot left
Just a Carcass to make some chicken soup

Ingredients

    4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
    3 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
    1 3 1/2- to 4-pound whole chicken
    1 to 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper, to taste
    2 tablespoons dried Greek oregano
    2 large lemons
    ¼ cup olive oil, more as needed
    1 large bunch rocket or other sturdy salad greens, for serving


Preparation

The day before serving, combine 2 ounces feta, 
2 teaspoons salt and 4 cups water in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Put chicken in an extra-large resealable plastic bag or a container
large enough to submerge chicken, and cover with the feta brine.
Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Before cooking, remove chicken from brine and transfer to a rack. (Discard brine.)
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
In a small mixing bowl, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 
the pepper, the oregano and the zest of the lemons (about 1 tablespoon).
Liberally cover chicken in herb mix and gently massage entire bird.
Halve lemons and place 3 halves in cavity (save remaining half for serving).
Using kitchen twine, tie legs together.

Heat oven to 220C degrees.
Place a large ovenproof skillet over high heat.
Add oil and heat until it just smokes.
Place chicken, breast-side up, in pan.
Transfer entire pan to oven.
Cook, basting once or twice, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife,
50 to 60 minutes.
Remove pan from oven, Place chicken on board to rest
then stir remaining crumbled feta into juices in pan and stir well.
Place the chicken  on a bed of greens,
with feta-laced pan juices on top, drizzled with a little lemon juice from the reserved lemon half.

Crushed Potatoes

So so simple
Just peel your potatoes
Cook till tender in boiling salted water
Drain
Smash with a good dollop of Olive Oil 

Add some sliced basil
Mix

Throw some extra basil on top to serve
Make plenty...there was nothing left
I should have made more

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