Whole fryer chicken, need fresh ideas

[erehweslefox]

OK I know this has been done to death. but I'm wondering if you friendly cooks have a new take on doing a whole chicken.

I tend to go with the engagement chicken recipe. If you haven't seen it it is basically salt, pepper garlic olive oil and lots of lemons.

I just want to try something new, and fryer chickens were on sale at grocery, I have two in the freezer.

We have a pressure cooker, a roasting pan, and a (new!) lodge cast iron dutch oven.

I'd actually really like to use the dutch oven. It is a new addition to our kitchen, birthday gift.

I think there are a number of ways to go with a whole chicken other than my usual, 'salt and pepper the heck out of it, stuff it with lemons and throw it in the oven' plan. Don't want to say too much about my plans to avoid prejudicing your responses. (paprika is likely involved)

Anyone have some serious out of the box ideas for dealing with a whole chicken?

 

[GotGarlic]

You can do these in the oven or on the grill: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-grilled-chicken-world-tour.html

 

[erehweslefox]

Some good ideas there GG, I like the Peruvian take, looks awesome.

I'm thinking on these lines, though

Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken | Sweet C's Designs

I am tempted on the Peruvian recipe, and I do have TWO chickens...

I'm kind of fascinated with the Mediterranean recipe as I really never use yogurt as an ingredient. It looks like it might be tricky not to have it curdle when adding the acid of the lemon juice.

My new (thank you Beloved Wife!) dutch oven has a self basting lid, which means it has these scary looking spikes all on the inner lid. I guess they gather the condensation and facilitate it dripping back down. In practice that means I can be a little more aggressive with sauces, as I don't have to mess with it as much.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I scored two chickens for 59 cents a pound a couple days ago. I roasted both of them, having seasoned them generously with McCormick's Rotisserie Chicken seasoning. I'll use some of the breast meat for enchilladas, the rest of the meat for soup, and simmer the bones/skin/stuff with another store-bought rotisserie chicken carcass I've been saving in the freezer. The stock and chicken will then be turned into "Cooking Goddess's Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup".

Seeing as how I'm having you roast the chicken, you can still use the stock pot for the soup.

 

[CakePoet]

Spatchcooked chicken?

You could do Cokantrice, it is medieval dish, it made by sewing a suckling pig and chicken together half and half to make fantasy animal but it can be also made by sewing 2 chicken together and using a turnip to carve as head.

How to make it:

First debone the chicken, open along the back and remove the bones from breast, back and legs. Remove the wings and sew the hole shut with cooking thread.

Now you overlay the chicken in such a way you get weird four legged beast. Now take you stuffing of choice, I will leave a recipe but turkey stuffing (we used a double recipe of turkey stuffing) will do. Stuff the legs of the birds and then sew the chicken together but leave a hole open so you can stuff the rest of the stuffing in it. Make it plump. Truss up the chicken in sleeping / resting animal position. Bake at 150 C for about 3 hour until the chicken is done. While its baking carve a animal head out a turnip. You can also do paws and tail.

Gilding: yes the beast has to be golden and you can choose to do an egg wash and place real gold leaf all over the animal after it cooked or make a fake gold solution.

Gold solution.
15 egg yolks
5 gram of saffron
1 tablespoon parsley juice
1 tablespoon ginger juice.

How to get the juices, grate ginger and squeeze and chop fresh parsley and squeeze. Grind saffron to a powder, add to the juices and steep for 1 hour. Now mix this with egg yolks. At the end of cooking, brush the "animal" all over, set back in the oven for 1- 2 minutes to dry, repeat until all solution is gone.

Now it is time to serve the animal, arrange the animal with head and all on a big platter, make it look stunning and now go make your guest awestruck.


Oldfashion stuffing:

2 hands crumbled dark rye bread
2 hands crumbled white bread
2 hands crumbled boston brown bread ( closes to Kavring)
20 small eggs
100 grams melted butter
1 hand of currants
1 hand of chopped apricots
1 hand chopped prune
1 hand chopped dried apples
150 gram of smoked pork, diced and lightly fried.
1 hand o of chopped almond
Long pepper, sugar, salt and ginger to taste.


Combine into dough, flavor with spices, fry a little piece and see if taste good.


We did do this for dinner party once, we didnt gild the animal, instead we put doll heads on the end and just made look like gore. Yes I am so normal sometimes.

 

[di reston]

I'd go for the Moroccan tajine type of vessel for doing a whole chicken. Moroccan chicken with seven vegetables would be my first choice, then the recipes with prunes and almonds, with the traditional Moroccan spices (ras el hanout). Chicken with chickpeas onions and spices is also appealing. In the absence of a tajine, I would use a deep dutch oven with a tight fitting lid, you could seal the lid on with a flour and water paste. Now you've raised the idea, I find it extremely appealing!

di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[Rocklobster]

I've been standing them up on a beverage can in the oven. This gets the skin crispy on all sides. The same set up as beer can chicken, but I don't bother wasting the beer. I just use the empty can, or with a bit of water in it to stand it up. Rub it with your spice mix, put it in a baking pan and baste it occasionally with it's own juices...spreading the legs out, it will stand up itself like a tripod. You probably will need to take an oven rack out and put the other one on the very bottom slot of the oven because the chicken will stand fairly tall. I also make a little tin foil hat for the top so it doesn't burn when the top element comes on while cooking because it will be pretty close to the heat. Then, I make some sort of sauce to dip it in. GF bought me a stand for it now, so I don't have to use a can any more...

 

[CraigC]

Spatchcooked chicken?

That would be spatchcocked. You remove the backbone and flatten the bird out. I just did two of these on the Egg, one with Mexican spices and the other with just lemon slices, S&P. We used the Mexican spiced one in a salad. The other will be used in another meal.

If you like Cajun food, try this recipe from the late, great Paul Prudhomme! It does use paprika.

PRUDHOMME CHICKEN recipe | Epicurious.com

Totally Egg adaptable.

 

[GotGarlic]

Some good ideas there GG, I like the Peruvian take, looks awesome.

I'm thinking on these lines, though

Dutch Oven Lemon Greek Yogurt Roasted Chicken | Sweet C's Designs

I am tempted on the Peruvian recipe, and I do have TWO chickens...

I'm kind of fascinated with the Mediterranean recipe as I really never use yogurt as an ingredient. It looks like it might be tricky not to have it curdle when adding the acid of the lemon juice.

Yogurt is already curdled A little more acid won't hurt it. I put lemon or lime juice or vinegar in yogurt all the time to make sauces.

 

[GotGarlic]

I've been standing them up on a beverage can in the oven. This gets the skin crispy on all sides. The same set up as beer can chicken, but I don't bother wasting the beer. I just use the empty can, or with a bit of water in it to stand it up. Rub it with your spice mix, put it in a baking pan and baste it occasionally with it's own juices...spreading the legs out, it will stand up itself like a tripod. You probably will need to take an oven rack out and put the other one on the very bottom slot of the oven because the chicken will stand fairly tall. I also make a little tin foil hat for the top so it doesn't burn when the top element comes on while cooking because it will be pretty close to the heat. Then, I make some sort of sauce to dip it in. GF bought me a stand for it now, so I don't have to use a can any more...

I bought one of these several years ago, since I don't often have beverage cans around. I use white wine and herbs in the can.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Justin Wilson made a whole deep fried chicken once on his show.
I thought it was unusual that he did not season the chicken in any way. Nothing.
Just took the whole pullet* and dropped into hot oil.
Pulled out his gallon jug of wine and he was all set.

* First time I ever heard the term.

Edit: It could have been a halved chicken?

 

[GotGarlic]

I bought one of these several years ago, since I don't often have beverage cans around. I use white wine and herbs in the can.

Forgot the picture:

 

[GotGarlic]

Justin Wilson made a whole deep fried chicken once on his show.
I thought it was unusual that he did not season the chicken in any way. Nothing.
Just took the whole pullet* and dropped into hot oil.
Pulled out his gallon jug of wine and he was all set.

* First time I ever heard the term.

Edit: It could have been a halved chicken?

Are you asking what pullet means? It's a chicken less than one year old. Back in the day, people used to keep chickens for years for eggs. When they got too old to lay anymore, they were eaten. So there was a distinction among different ages of chickens. These days, most supermarket chickens are three to four months old, so technically they're all pullets.

 

[msmofet]

Rub with a BBQ dry rub mixture of your choice (homemade or store bought). BBQ over indirect heat (with or without smoke chips) turning half way through Till cooked almost to temp. Baste with wet BBQ sauce move to direct heat turning and basting till completely cooked through and nicely browned.

 

[GotGarlic]

Rub with a BBQ dry rub mixture of your choice (homemade or store bought). BBQ over indirect heat (with or without smoke chips) turning half way through Till cooked almost to temp. Baste with wet BBQ sauce move to direct heat turning and basting till completely cooked through and nicely browned.

The cool thing about the beer-can (or wine-butt, in my case ) chicken method is that you can do a rub and baste with sauce without having to turn a whole chicken with tongs. You can just turn the holder around to turn the chicken front to back. Much easier to handle.

 

[msmofet]

I like to break it down and do pieces not a whole chicken. Very easy to handle pieces.

 

[GotGarlic]

I like to break it down and do pieces not a whole chicken. Very easy to handle pieces.

Oh, I see. e-fox was talking about a whole chicken, so I was confused. Thanks.

 

[erehweslefox]

Oh, I see. e-fox was talking about a whole chicken, so I was confused. Thanks.

Well one can always turn a whole chicken into pieces, very difficult to turn pieces into a whole chicken.

TBS

 

[jennyema]

Zuni cafe roast chicken... the best ever!!!!

Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad recipe | Epicurious.com

 

[GotGarlic]

Well one can always turn a whole chicken into pieces, very difficult to turn pieces into a whole chicken.

TBS

I realize that. I thought she was talking about a whole chicken because that's what you asked about.