The big bird

[nancylebov]

I've got a 5 1/2 pound free range chicken and I need to decide how to cook it. I'm thinking about baking it with some heirloom tomatoes, but does anyone have more detailed suggestions?

With a little luck, it will have more flavor than your average chicken, but I'm not sure about good ways to do it justice.

In other cooking news, I did a random fish thing which worked out surprisingly well. I cooked yellowfin tuna by sitting it in soy sauce and cooking it covered at a medium low temperature. It cooked very quickly-- probably under ten minutes. When I was eating the chilled leftovers, I realized it was a lot like kippered salmon--something I love, but which costs a fortune. It's possible that the folks who make kippered salmon are doing it the hard way.

A little research turned up that kippered salmon is made by "hot smoking"-- cooking it while it getting smoked.

Comments

[chomiji]

I like to loosen the skin (you can just gently work your hands under it) and put some herbs and slivered garlic and maybe some salt and pepper under there, and then brush the top of the skin with olive oil before roasting/baking. The flavorings permeate the meat better that way.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Which herbs do you use?

Any opinions about whether baking tomatoes at the same time will make the oven too humid?

[chomiji]

To go with tomatoes, I would suggest marjoram (which is mellower than oregano but has a similar flavor overall) and basil.

Hmmm. My crew doesn't really care for cooked tomatoes except in pasta sauce, so I've never had to think much about baking them. Were they going to be a separate item, in their own pan, or along with the chicken? If the latter, I'd suggest seeding them and getting rid of the juice, which will cut down on the moisture.

My usual roasting procedure for a bird is to do 15-20 minutes at high heat (425°F), and then lower to about 325°F for the rest of the roasting time. I roast on a rack, and also use a large roasting fork to pick the bird up from time to time and tilt it to let the juices run out of the cavity into the pan. If the skin isn't as crispy as you want at the done point, I guess you could remove as much of the liquidy stuff as possible with a bulb baster and put the temperature up again for 15 min. or so.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Some butter under the skin with the herbs can be nice, too, if kashreth is not a concern. I suppose a flavourful oil would work well, too.

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

My standard for chicken is to rub it all over with freshly squeezed lemon juice, stuff the squeezed lemon in the chicken cavity. Sprinkle all over with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary.

Heat the oven to 450 before you put the chicken in. Put it in the oven, then immediately turn the oven down to 350 and cook for 20 minutes per pound. (This should be on a rack. And there is nothing better than the juices that end up on the bottom of the pan -- for gravy, for soup, or for chilling, skimming off the fat, reheating, and drinking plain. The fat is good for stir-fry, too.)

About the tomatoes: tomatoes will bake in a short time, so don't put them in when you do the chicken. I'd say half an hour.