Nothing makes me feel more like fall than a nice oven roasted bird.

I call this a “turkey roasted” chicken, because I prepare it just as I prepare a turkey for thanksgiving, only on a smaller scale. Also, sometime roasting a small bird like a chicken can help prepare a person for the big day… Turkey day.

My method of preparing poultry is purely reactionary.

You see, I grew up in a house where when it comes to food- “diet” means disaster, and “healthy” meant tasteless.

More often, birds like chicken and turkey were prepared as “healthy” as possible, because everyone in the house was on a “diet”.

I guess I can’t really blame my mom. I know she over cooks and under seasons the bird out of love for us. While I was growing up and shaded from worry while scientists figured out how to prevent salmonella and E.Coli poisoning, she was just trying to make dinner safe and healthy, the only way she knew how- Over cooking it and under seasoning it.

Back then, butter was the worst thing you could eat (the margarine brand “promise” used the slogan- “Get heart smart”, even though there was no proof that their margarine did anything to help a persons heart, or even that it was better than butter in the first place. Butter just got a bad rap) and seasonings just covered up the “true flavour of the meat” as my mom would put it.

…Even though I now know that seasonings are meant to enhance, not mask the flavour of the meat, and that butter helps keep the bird from drying out, and the majority of the butter actually melts off the bird and does not absorb into it, so it does not make the meat greasy, it just imbues it with a subtle creaminess and faint flavour that only butter can lend to food.

Thanksgiving day I always wondered why my dad called the turkey the “roast beast”. Besides the obvious Grinch connotations, our turkey was a little beastly. Dry, and beastly.

It was sad, because I don’t think I ever truly knew how delicious chicken and turkey can be, because the bone-dry, tasteless Fowl placed before me for evening meals was just that. FOUL. It wasn’t until I turned 20 and decided that it was high time that I conquered the bird that I really learned how to make a truely tasty one.

Between ages 20 and 24 I perfected my “turkey” seasoning. The only real difference between the way I usually prepare a chicken and a turkey, is that I usually add lemon or lime juice to the chicken rub, and I usually shove a few citrus wedges in the cavity. (I don’t typically do this for turkey because the gravy tastes a little wonky)

Otherwise, its the same, and its perfect.

Now, when I go to visit my parents, they have me prepare the bird. The greatest thing is, there is no basting necessary (though you’re more than welcome to baste! Just try and limit your basting to once or twice during the cooking process), and although there is a fairly large amount of butter being used for this recipe, if you measure the drippings, about 3/4 of it actually comes back out of the bird. AND you can make a delicious gravy with the simple addition of 2 parts flour to one part cornstarch, and a few tablespoons of milk or additional stock.

And now for the recipe-

Never Bashful with Butter’s-

Truly tasty, utterly fabulous, deliciously juicy- put it in the oven and walk away-
Turkey roasted chicken recipe (with handy conversions to adapt it to a 12-15lb turkey)

This recipe requires the mixing of and additional spice rub, one which I keep on hand for salting fries, seasoning chicken, beef, turkey, pork… fish- EVERYTHING. So before you go making your turkey/chicken rub, you’ll want to mix this up, first-

3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon tomato soup powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Stir well and store covered. This recipe yields about 1/3 cup, and you’ll only need two tablespoons of that for the recipe below.

For the Turkey roasted Chicken you will need-

1 3-5lb chicken (or a 12-15lb turkey)
1/2 Cup butter (or 1 Cup butter)
5 garlic cloves (or a full garlic bulb)
1 teaspoon fine ground sea salt (same)
2 tablespoons seasoning mix listed above (or 3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons italian seasoning (same)

Clean out and rinse off your chicken. loosen the skin of the chicken by sliding your fingers under the skin between it and the meat of the chicken breast from the top of the chest down towards the legs. Create a small pocket there, trying not to break all the way through. Think pocket, not tunnel.

Wash your hands.

Allow chicken to rest for about 10 minutes on the counter in the roasting pan you plan to roast the chicken in. Meanwhile, prepare the rub.

Roughly chop half of the garlic cloves. Crush or slice the remaining cloves. Melt half of the butter in a small bowl. When the butter is melted, mix in the chopped garlic, the salt, the special seasoning and the italian seasoning. Allow mixture to cool to a paste consistency.

Wash your hands.

Slice the remaining butter into long thin pieces. Place half of the sliced butter under the skin of one side of the chicken breast, and the other half on the other side of the chicken breast. Massage it into the meat a little.

Using your hands (and if you’re squeamish, you should probably be wearing rubber gloves) rub the butter/seasoning paste on the outside of the bird, paying special attention to the legs, thighs and breasts. Loosely pile on any extra. Place the remaining sliced or crushed garlic cloves in the chest cavity of the bird and either tie the legs together with butchers twine, or using the skewer method seen in my photos.

Wash your hands.

Create a tent with tin foil, or just cut a piece of foil large enough to drape over the top of the bird loosely so that it covers the entire breast area and legs. Lay the foil on top of the bird and lightly press it down around the edges so it doesn’t slide off when you slide the bird into the oven.

Preheat your oven to 375 and place the roasting pan on either the middle or lowest rack in the oven (depending on the size of your bird. Just make sure there is at least a “handshake’s height” between the top of the bird and the broiler element)

Roast for 2-3 hours (much longer for a turkey, follow the guidelines on the package for your specific poundage) or until the internal temperature of the thickest portion of the chicken (I usually poke into the breast from the front of the bird where the top of the shoulder would be) reaches 165-180 degrees Fahrenheit. The top of the bird should be lightly golden brown, but feel free to remove the foil and turn the broiler element on for a few minutes (keep a watchful eye on it) to acheive a crispy all over golden skin. (the chicken pictured was made without additional broiling)

Allow the chicken to rest on a board for a few minutes before removing the skewers(or twine) and carving.

Really though, I’ve been making chicken and turkey this way for a long time and for many people, and so far, no complaints, only recipe requests!

Enjoy!

-A.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 3:21 am and is filed under November 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.