"roasted chicken" news and stories

Do you often make a roasted chicken and have leftovers? One of the best things about roasted chicken is that you do not have to waste any piece of the bird. Find out some quick and easy ways to get the most out of roasted chicken.

I roasted my first chicken sometime in the spring of 2002. I was 22 and living on my own for the first time in my life. I bought the chicken at Reading Terminal Market, for the extravagant price of $13 (it seemed awfully spendy at the time since I was making approximately that much an hour). When I got it home, I rinsed it with cold water, patted it down with paper towels and perched it in a battered, shallow roasting pan that I had picked up at a thrift store. Following my mother's instructions, I sprinkled the outside with salt and garlic power. Inside, I slipped a halved lemon, a sprig of rosemary and a small, roughly chunked onion.

I've only very slightly improved on this method in the last six years. These days, I slip herbs under the skin, scatter whole cloves of garlic in the pan around the bird and rub the skin with a little butter in the final half hour in order to help crisp the skin. However, I always slip that halved lemon in the cavity. Over at the Kitchn, they've tested two roasted lemon chicken methods in an attempt to find a superior method. In one they perch lemon slices over the skin of the bird and in the other they put the lemon inside. Check out the post to see what they discovered.

What's your chicken roasting technique?

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I have always been intrigued by Zuni Cafe method of chicken roasting, in which you heavily salt the chicken and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days. Yesterday over on the Epi Log Rick Rodgers wrote a post where he plays with this idea of dry brining and applies it to a Thanksgiving turkey.

He says, "How does this dry salt rub work? The salt draws a tiny bit of moisture from the bird and opens the skin pores. This moisture mingles with the salt and works its way into the turkey muscles, seasoning the bird throughout through osmosis. It is much less awkward than brining with gallons of salt water!"

Rick, you've got me pondering a dry brine, if not for this year, possibly for next. It sounds like a far easier and less messy way of imparting a whole lot of flavor into your bird. For full instructions on how to dry brine your turkey, make sure to read Rick's entire post because it is clear and well-written.

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• Can hard cider make a comeback?
• It's holiday party season, and how about trying a crudites platter?
• Here's a gift idea for the cook/sports fan in your family.
• This week's recipes: Cobb Salad with Green Goddess Dressing, Mango-Red Pepper Salsa, Roasted Chicken Parts, and Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake.

I am a huge fan of taking the leftovers from one dinner and turning them into something new for the next meal. I've often roasted a chicken for dinner one night, tucked some of the meat from the bird into sandwiches the next and then made soup out of what remains on the third night. However that cycle isn't particularly creative and I rarely vary it. And then I end up with an enormous pot of soup that I have to eat for days.

Over at An Obsession with Food, Derrick has posted about his chicken cycles, the series of dinners he creates from a single roast chicken. I was really impressed with the variety and creativity he puts into each dinner. It's a great thing to check out if you are in need of dinner inspiration and want to make your meat stretch for multiple meals.

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