IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN.Byline: Mike Dunne
Mike Dunne (born October 27, 1962, in South Bend, Indiana), is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1987-1990 and in 1992. Career Signing with the St. Sacramento Bee What is it about a whole roasted chicken that makes it such an appealing entree in the spring? Probably the same sorts of things that make it so appealing during the summer, winter and fall: It's inexpensive, it's easy, and it fills the house with lilting aromas savory with expectation. What's more, it plays to aesthetic extremes: simple enough for a casual weeknight week·night n. A night of the week exclusive of Saturday and Sunday. week  nights dinner, substantial enough to be the dressed-up centerpiece at a classy Saturday-night dinner party. Roasted chicken is nothing if not adaptable, open to interpretation in accord with the principles of almost every cuisine except vegetarianism vegetarianism, theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e. . Jo Brans, in her book ``Feast Here Awhile: Adventures in American Eating,'' might as well have been talking about roast chicken specifically as American food generally when she said it ``isn't so much schizophrenic as a case of multiple personalities: diet food, gourmet food, fast food, comfort food, junk food junk food n. Any of various prepackaged snack foods high in calories but low in nutritional value. junk food , soul food, organic food, nostalgia food.'' Roast chicken is all that, in one pretty and tidy package. But there's something about springtime that begs for roasted chicken more than any other season - and it isn't the obvious, the dated phrase ``spring chicken,'' more often put-down put·down or put-down n. Slang 1. A dismissal or rejection, especially in the form of a critical or slighting remark: "Such answers were, perhaps still are, a . . . than compliment. Nope, it has to be the prospect of leftover chicken - well seasoned, thinly sliced and layered between slabs of fresh bread, tucked into a basket en route to the first picnic of the season, the first opportunity to loll loll v. lolled, loll·ing, lolls v.intr. 1. To move, stand, or recline in an indolent or relaxed manner. 2. in the warm grass after a winter of rain and fog. On top of everything else that roast chicken has to offer, it's two very different meals with one basic maneuver. Decade after decade, roast chicken endures. Restaurant chefs may be chary char·y adj. char·i·er, char·i·est 1. Very cautious; wary: was chary of the risks involved. 2. of it, aware of the deceptive challenges in its simplicity, but almost invariably in·var·i·a·ble adj. Not changing or subject to change; constant. in·var  i·a·bil they at least offer it as an occasional special. And it's a daring cookbook indeed that doesn't include a recipe for roast chicken, no matter how chic and cutting edge the author's style may be. That's where we turned recently to see what's up with roasted chicken. The results were all over the place, from Paul Bertolli's brisk and direct presentation in the cookbook ``Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known as the birthplace of California cuisine, a style credited to its co-founder, Alice Waters. The restaurant is located in the north Berkeley neighborhood known locally as the "Gourmet Ghetto". Cooking,'' to John Ash's much more involved take in his ``From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine.'' Using a number of cookbook recipes, we roasted a batch of chickens at home. Regardless of roasting technique, regardless of the varying herbs and spices that were used, and regardless of differences in times and temperatures for the bird to be in the oven, the results were uniformly splendid. In each instance, the meat was moist, while the skin varied sharply in crispness and color, the former from crinkly to crunchy, the latter from pale golden to earthy sienna sienna: see ocher. . Along the way, we discovered a few things about roasting chicken: While imaginative sauces and involved rubs give chicken more complex and captivating cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. flavors, birds prepared with just a touch of butter or a sprig or two of a common herb can be no less satisfying. In fact, the simplest dressed of the five chickens in this experiment was the most rewarding in terms of quickness of preparation, lack of fussiness during roasting and the balance of flavors of the finished bird. That was the roast chicken in Bertolli's cookbook ``Chez Panisse Cooking.'' All it took was a little fennel fennel, common name for several perennial herbs, genus Foeniculum vulgare of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), related to dill. The strawlike foliage and the seeds are licorice-scented and are used (especially in Italian cooking) for flavoring. seed, cayenne pepper and fresh thyme. All the chickens tested were trussed to varying degrees of tightness and complexity. The rationale behind trussing truss n. 1. Medicine A supportive device, usually a pad with a belt, worn to prevent enlargement of a hernia or the return of a reduced hernia. 2. a. is that it makes for more even cooking, a prettier package and easier carving. My experience, however, tended to bear out conclusions drawn by Christopher Kimball Christopher Kimball is founder, editor, and publisher of "Cook's Illustrated" magazine (formerly "Cook's Magazine"). He is the author of "The Cook's Bible", "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook", "Dear Charlie", and "The Dessert Bible". of Cook's Illustrated Cook’s Illustrated is a bimonthly American cooking magazine founded and edited by Christopher Kimball and published by Boston Common Press in Brookline, Massachusetts. magazine, when he reported on the results of roasting chicken 14 ways: Trussing makes it more difficult to properly cook the inner part of the thigh, and requires that the bird be left in the oven longer, resulting in possibly overcooked white meat. When he roasted chicken without trussing, both the white and the dark meats were nicely cooked, he reported. Barbara Kafka, in her book ``Roasting: A Simple Art,'' remarks that trussing is an unnecessary and illogical carry-over from the days of spit roasting, when careful trussing was required to keep odd bits from jutting jut v. jut·ted, jut·ting, juts v.intr. To extend outward or upward beyond the limits of the main body; project: out and burning or falling off. ``Why would one cram the slowest roasting meat of a chicken - the thigh - against the rest of the bird? Only overdone o·ver·done v. Past participle of overdo. Adj. 1. overdone - represented as greater than is true or reasonable; "an exaggerated opinion of oneself" exaggerated, overstated breast meat or bloody thighs can result,'' she writes. Bertolli, in his directions for roasting chicken, urges that the legs be trussed just loosely so the inner thighs are well exposed to heat; that bird came out of the oven more evenly cooked than any of the others. Basting baste 1 tr.v. bast·ed, bast·ing, bastes To sew loosely with large running stitches so as to hold together temporarily. the chicken as it roasts also looks to be over-rated. Basting with butter, oil or juices theoretically helps darken dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. and crisp the skin. While it does help deepen the color of the skin, the skin's texture is apt to be more chewy chew·y adj. chew·i·er, chew·i·est Needing much chewing: chewy candy. chew i·ness n. and greasy than snappy, Kimball found in his experiments. He recommends that the bird simply be brushed with butter and shoved into the oven without further basting. ``This was the best method. Great color and great crispy texture,'' he wrote. Only one of the chickens I tested called for basting, but that was difficult because the fowl yielded little juice or runoff butter, and the results were inconclusive. A V-shaped rack seems to help a chicken roast evenly, but the differences in outcome aren't so dramatic that a person should run out and buy one if he or she only rarely roasts a bird. Such racks prevent a chicken from sticking to the roasting pan and stewing in its own fat. Kimball favors a rack, but urges cooks to grease it first so the chicken won't stick to it. (None of the five recipes I tested called for a vertical roasting rack or an enclosed clay cooker.) Though it's bothersome, there's something to be said for turning the chicken as it roasts. Two of the five chickens I roasted had to be turned periodically as they cooked, as specified in recipes by Paris restaurateur res·tau·ra·teur also res·tau·ran·teur n. The manager or owner of a restaurant. [French, from restaurer, to restore; see restaurant. Joel Robuchon and California chef John Ash This article is about John Ash. For other people named Ash, see Ash (surname). John Ash may refer to several people:
Kimball found that two turns of the bird, as advocated by Robuchon, is crucial. Ash suggests that the bird be turned once, starting with the breast facing down. Most of the tested recipes recommend that the chicken be roasted until its juices run clear, with no trace of pinkness, particularly when the thigh or the joint between leg and thigh is pierced. Another approach is to use a meat thermometer. The National Broiler broiler a young (about 8 weeks old) male or female chicken weighing 3 to 3.5 lb. Council recommends that a whole unstuffed chicken be roasted until its internal temperature registers between 185 degrees and 190 degrees F (a whole stuffed chicken should be roasted until its internal temperature hits 190 degrees F, suggests the council). The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that a whole chicken be roasted until its internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F, with the thermometer stuck into the densest part of the thigh. With the recipes I selected, I found that the chickens were satisfactorily done at between 170 degrees and 180 degrees F. The results Recipe: Roast Chicken. Source: ``Chez Panisse Cooking'' by Paul Bertolli Paul Bertolli is a chef, writer, and artisan food producer in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Until mid-2005, he was the executive chef of the Oliveto restaurant in Oakland, California. with Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born 28 April 1944 in Chatham, New Jersey), one of the best-known and most influential American chefs since the 1970s, is credited with single-handedly creating a culinary revolution in the United States. . Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes. Flavor: Moist, clean; fennel obvious but not overpowering. Accompaniments: Asparagus pasta; focaccia. Wine: Medium-bodied, fruity Sauvignon Blanc with a whiff of oak. Recipe: Chile-Rubbed Roast Chicken With Tortilla-Chile Sauce. Source: ``From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine.'' Preparation and cooking time: 2 hours. Flavor: Skin dark, somewhat oily and plenty spicy from the rub; meat juicy; the herbaceousness, sweetness and spice of the sauce makes the dish. Accompaniments: Green chile and cheese rice; minted romaine salad with blue cheese and pecans. Wine: Gewurztraminer, Riesling or Bonny Doon's Ca' del Solo Malvasia Malvasia (mălvəsē`ə) or Monemvasía (mô'nĕmväsē`ä), village, S Greece, in the Peloponnesus, on a rocky island joined to the mainland by a mole. Bianca. Recipe: Herb-Roasted Chicken. Source: ``The Union Square Cafe Cookbook'' by Danny Meyer Daniel "Danny" Meyer (b. 1958, St Louis) is a New York City restauranteur. He was born and raised in St Louis, and spent portions of his childhood traveling throughout Europe with his father's tour company, studying food and hospitality extensively in France and Italy (including and Michael Romano. Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Flavor: Moist and herbal; the key is the hot herbed herbed adj. Flavored with herbs: herbed vinaigrette. pan juices, which add flavors of onion, tarragon tarragon (târ`əgŏn), perennial aromatic Old World herb (Artemisia dracunculus) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), of the same genus as wormwood and sagebrush. and thyme to the meat. Accompaniments: Panzanella Panzanella or panmolle is a type of Italian dish originating in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Lazio. The dish is a bread salad popular in the summer months. ; creamy polenta po·len·ta n. A thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in water or stock. [Italian, from Latin, crushed grain, barley meal.] Noun 1. . Wine: A light Beaujolais, Pinot Noir or Dolcetto d'Alba. Recipe: Grandmother's Roast Chicken. Source: ``Simply French: Patricia Wells 'Patricia Wells at Home in Provence won the James Beard Award for Best International Cookbook. Wells is also the only American and the only woman to be a restaurant critic for a major French publication, L'Express. Presents the Cuisine of Joel Robuchon.'' Preparation and cooking time: 2 hours. Flavor: Skin a deep golden brown and flesh evenly done, but herbs add little flavor to the meat; though the creamy sweetness of the garlic makes the dish. Accompaniments: Potato puree pu·rée or pu·ree tr.v. pu·réed or pu·reed, pu·rée·ing or pu·ree·ing, pu·rées or pu·rees To rub through a strainer or process (food) in a blender. n. ; glazed spring vegetables. Wine: A light Pinot Noir, or a fragrant French red such as Volnay. Recipe: Salt Roasted Chicken. Source: ``Ken Hom's Chinese Kitchen.'' Preparation and cooking time: 4 hours. Flavor: Skin tan and oily, meat moist but almost overdone. Accompaniments: Hot and sour cucumber salad, spring onion and ginger noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. . Wine: A young but fairly substantial Chardonnay with obvious but not overbearing oak. HERB-ROASTED CHICKEN The secret to this deliciously moist chicken is to season it up to a day before roasting. This allows the salt and pepper
If roasting a kosher chicken, use only pepper because it has already been salted. Don't take lightly the hot herbed pan juices, which add a welcome depth and complexity of flavor to the chicken. 1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 4 thyme sprigs 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped tarragon 1/2 cup sliced carrots 1/2 cup sliced celery 1/2 cup sliced onion 2 cups chicken stock Day before roasting chicken or at least 8 hours ahead, season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate re·frig·er·ate tr.v. re·frig·er·at·ed, re·frig·er·at·ing, re·frig·er·ates 1. To cool or chill (a substance). 2. To preserve (food) by chilling. . Truss chicken, tying legs together tightly with kitchen twine twine: see cordage. . Rub butter all over chicken. Place breast side down on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan. Transfer pan to preheated 425-degree oven and roast 30 minutes. Remove chicken from oven and place thyme, parsley, tarragon, carrots, celery and onion in pan under rack. Turn chicken over onto its back and continue to roast breast side up another 35 to 40 minutes, or until skin is browned. To check for doneness, place a meat thermometer in thickest part of thigh, being careful not to pierce through to cavity. It should read 170 degrees F. If you don't have a thermometer, tilt chicken forward on rack until juices run from cavity. Juices should be clear with no trace of pinkness. Transfer chicken to a platter. Let stand in a warm place 15 minutes before carving. Remove rack, tilt roasting pan and pour off fat, leaving vegetables and herbs in pan. Place pan over medium-high heat and pour in chicken stock and any juice accumulated on platter. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Strain. Carve chicken and serve with hot herbed pan juices. Makes 4 servings. NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 426 calories; 26 grams fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 38 grams protein; 150 milligrams cholesterol; 805 milligrams sodium. From ``The Union Square Cafe Cookbook.'' ROAST CHICKEN ``More than a recipe, this is a tribute to roast chicken, which can hardly be improved upon by the additions of a sauce or fancy seasonings. A well-roasted chicken requires neither of these embellishments. By itself it is plenty juicy, and its crisp skin heightens the flavor of the flesh much like a sauce. To make this recipe, choose a fresh, plump roasting hen,'' said Paul Bertolli. 1 chicken, about 4 pounds, at room temperature 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper flakes 1 1/2 teaspoons additive-free kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper A small bunch fresh thyme Remove any excess fat inside cavity of chicken and in neck flap. Crack fennel seeds in a mortar with a pestle pestle /pes·tle/ (pes´'l) an implement for pounding drugs in a mortar. pes·tle n. A club-shaped, hand-held tool for grinding or mashing substances in a mortar. and mix with cayenne, salt and pepper. Season chicken cavity with salt mixture and stuff thyme inside. Truss legs loosely so that all areas, particularly inner thighs, are exposed to heat. Turn wings behind neck of bird and fix in place. Use remaining salt seasoning mixture and sprinkle all over bird, particularly breast section, which is milder in flavor than darker parts of bird. Set bird in a roasting pan without a rack. Roast in preheated 400-degree oven 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before carving. Makes 4 servings. NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 380 calories; 23 grams fat; 0 grams carbohydrates; 38 grams protein; 146 milligrams cholesterol; 941 milligrams sodium. From ``Chez Panisse Cooking.'' GRANDMOTHER'S ROAST CHICKEN With this method, the chicken is roasted first on one side, then the other. Once it is nicely browned, it's turned breast side up to finish cooking. When a chicken is roasted in this way - as opposed to leaving it breast side up throughout the cooking time - there is less danger of drying out the delicate white meat. Once roasted, the chicken is turned to rest, tail in the air, allowing the flavorful juices to flow down through the breast meat. 1 free-range roasting chicken (about 5 pounds), neck reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste 2 whole heads plump garlic, unpeeled Un`peeled a. 1. Thoroughly stripped; pillaged. 2. Not peeled. , cut in half horizontally 1 large sprig fresh rosemary 1 large sprig fresh thyme Rub chicken skin with butter and season generously, inside and out, with salt and white pepper. Truss by threading a truss1ing needle with cotton kitchen twine. Push needle through upper part of wings to fix to body. Pass needle in opposite direction through thighs. Tie ends of twine together and trim excess. Place chicken on side in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Alongside chicken, scatter reserved neck, halved garlic heads (cut side up), rosemary and thyme. Place baking dish in center of oven. Roast in preheated 425-degree oven, uncovered, 20 minutes. Baste chicken, if juices are sufficient in dish; if not, skip it. Turn chicken to other side. Roast another 20 minutes. Baste again, turn chicken breast side up. Roast 20 minutes more for a total of 1 hour roasting time. By this time skin should be a deep golden color. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F and baste again. Roast until juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a skewer, about 15 minutes more. Remove dish from oven and season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Transfer chicken to a platter and place at an angle against edge of an overturned plate, with head down and tail in air. (This heightens flavor by allowing juices to flow down through breast meat.) Cover chicken loosely with foil. Turn off oven and place chicken in oven, with door ajar. Let stand at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Chicken will continue to cook as it stands. Meanwhile, to prepare sauce, place baking dish over moderate heat, scraping up any bits that cling to bottom. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, scraping and stirring until liquid is almost caramelized. Do not let it burn. Spoon off and discard any excess fat. Add several tablespoons of cold water to deglaze de·glaze tr.v. de·glazed, de·glaz·ing, de·glaz·es 1. To remove the glaze from (pottery, for example). 2. (hot water would cloud sauce), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened thick·en tr. & intr.v. thick·ened, thick·en·ing, thick·ens 1. To make or become thick or thicker: Thicken the sauce with cornstarch. The crowd thickened near the doorway. 2. , about 5 minutes. While sauce is cooking, carve chicken and arrange on a warmed platter. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and pour into a sauce boat. Serve immediately with chicken and halved heads of garlic. Makes 4 servings. NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 419 calories; 27 grams fat; 1 gram carb1ohydrates; 38 grams protein; 158 milligrams cholesterol; 409 milligrams sodium. From ``Simply French: Patricia Wells Presents the Cuisine of Joel Robuchon.'' CHILI-RUBBED ROAST CHICKEN WITH TORTILLA-CHILE SAUCE This spicy roast chicken can be done either in the ``green'' version, as below, or in a ``red'' version with the following substitutions: red onions for yellow onions, 2 1/2 ounces stemmed and seeded ancho an·cho n. pl. an·chos A dried poblano pepper. [American Spanish (chile) ancho, wide (chili), from Spanish, from Old Spanish, from Latin amplus; see ample.] OR New Mexico dried chiles for the poblanos, and drops of fresh lime OR lemon juice for seasoning. CHILE RUB: 1 tablespoon California OR New Mexico chile powder 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 teaspoon coriander seeds 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano oregano (ərĕg`ənō), name for several herbs used for flavoring food. A plant of the family Labiatae (mint family), Origanum vulgare, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons olive oil CHICKEN: 1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, all fat removed 3/4 pound tomatillos, husked husk n. 1. The outer membranous or green envelope of some fruits or seeds, as that of a walnut or an ear of corn. 2. A shell or outer covering, especially when considered worthless. 3. 1 1/4 pounds yellow onions, quartered 12 garlic cloves 2 large poblano po·bla·no n. A cultivar of the tropical pepper (Capsicum annum) having a mild or fairly pungent dark green, thick-skinned fruit used in cooking. chiles, seeded 2 small serrano chiles, stemmed Olive oil 2 (8-inch) corn tortillas, lightly toasted 1 1/4 cups chicken stock 1/2 cup fruity white wine, such as Riesling 1 cup chopped spinach leaves 2 large bunches fresh cilantro, stemmed and chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Cilantro sprigs and toasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish For Chile Rub, place all rub ingredients except olive oil in a spice grinder Grinder A slang term for a person who works in the investment industry and makes small amounts of money at a time on small investments, over and over again. Notes: . Grind finely. Alternately, grind by hand with a mortar and pestle A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances. The pestle is a heavy stick whose end is used for pounding and grinding, and the mortar is a bowl. The substance is ground between the pestle and the mortar. . Remove to a bowl and stir in olive oil to make a smooth mixture. Store covered at room temperature up to 3 days. For Chicken, coat outside of chicken with Chile Rub. Set aside in a small roasting pan. On a lightly oiled jelly roll pan, arrange tomatillos, onions, garlic, poblanos and serranos in a single layer. Place under hot broiler until lightly browned, then remove. Insert 1/2 of roasted vegetables into cavity of chicken. (When this recipe was tested, the cavity wouldn't accommodate 1/2 the vegetab1les, but use what you can.) Cut tortillas into 1/2-inch wide strips and scatter along with remaining vegetables in bottom of roasting pan. Truss chicken and place on top, breast side down. Roast in preheated 450-degree oven 15 minutes. Turn chicken over and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Roast another 45 to 50 minutes or until juices run clear when joint between leg and thigh is pierced. Remove vegetables from cavity. Set chicken aside and keep warm. In a food processor or blender, puree, in batches if necessary, vegetables, tortillas, pan juices, including any browned bits, chicken stock, white wine, spinach and cilantro leaves. Puree should be bright green and very smooth. Strain puree and season to taste with salt and pepper. (If puree is strained, sauce becomes quite thin; this step can be skipped; you will end up with more puree than you need for chicken, but reserve for use as a dip with tortilla chips.) Briefly warm sauce. Carve chicken into serving pieces and serve immediately with sauce. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and toasted pumpkin seeds if desired. Makes 4 servings. NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 410 calories; 12 grams fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 37 grams protein; 96 milligrams cholesterol; 1,728 milligrams sodium. From ``From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine.'' SALT ROASTED CHICKEN This is a popular southern Chinese technique for cooking chicken. The result is not salty, but succulent and flavorful. The salt acts to seal in the juices of the chicken as it slowly cooks. Filling the cavity with a piquant sauce makes the chicken even tastier. Ingredients like Shaoxing rice wine, whole bean sauce and star anise star anise: see under anise. can be found at Chinese markets. 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken, preferably cornfed 1 tablespoon groundnut oil (peanut oil) 3 slices fresh ginger 3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed 5 green onions, cut into 3-inch segments 5 to 6 pounds rock salt 1 tablespoon whole bean sauce 21 tablespoons light soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine OR dry sherry 1 tablespoon sugar 2 star anise 2 teaspoons whole Sichuan peppercorns, roasted 5/8 cup chicken stock 10 sprigs whole fresh cilantro Wipe chicken dry inside and out with paper towels and let stand, loosely wrapped, in refrigerator at least 2 hours. For sauce, heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat until hot. Add oil and, when very hot and slightly smoking, add ginger, garlic and green onions. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except salt. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Pour sauce into a bowl and cool completely. Put 1/2 of salt in a large flameproof flame·proof adj. Resistant to catching fire; flame-retardant. tr.v. flame·proofed, flame·proof·ing, flame·proofs To make resistant to catching fire. Adj. 1. casserole (big enough to hold chicken) and other 1/2 in another pot. Heat both pots of salt at least 30 minutes. Put cold sauce into body cavity of chicken. (When this recipe was tested much of sauce either soaked through bottom of chicken as it roasted or bubbled out of neck and tail, even though they were tightly trussed; a better option would be to brush cavity with some of sauce and hold rest in reserve to warm up and serve with chicken.) Secure cavity with a bamboo-skewer tied with kitchen string. Lay chicken in casserole and pour hot salt from second pot onto chicken. Salt should cover chicken completely. Cover casserole tightly and transfer to oven. Cook in preheated 350-degree oven 1 1/2 hours. When chicken is cooked, carefully remove hot salt by scraping off. Cool chicken slightly. Drain sauce from chicken, or warm up sauce held in reserve. Carve bird and serve with sauce on side. Makes 4 servings. NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING: 405 calories; 0 grams fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 37 grams protein; 134 milligrams cholesterol; 761 milligrams sodium. From ``Ken Hom's Chinese Chicken.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Drawings Drawing: (1--2--Color) IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN Jon Gerung/Daily News |
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