LEARN TO COOK
Oh look everybody…I handled raw chicken again! As you can see from the pictures above, I have totally moved past my aversion to it. I look like quite the pro, don’t I?
Welcome to the worst roast chicken meal ever. I would say it was a slight setback in my cooking career but have decided not to get discouraged by one meal. So what that Brian got a bit sick from it…no big deal right?
My friend Rachel and I decided it would be fun to make dinner for our guys last Friday night. The weather in LA has been getting chillier and we thought it would be a cozy way for us all to hang out. When we were brainstorming meal options I came up with the brilliant idea that we should roast a whole chicken. I have never attempted this before but I thought it sounded easy enough and I have always loved the way a whole chicken looked finished on a plate. Obviously the most important part of the meal right? So we googled roast chicken recipes and found one we really liked. Problem was it happened to be called “Engagement Chicken”. Supposedly if you make this chicken for your significant other he will be so impressed by it and you that he will be inspired to propose. So ridiculous, we thought, but we liked the recipe so we decided to keep the name to ourselves and make it anyways. We didn’t want the boys to get the wrong idea about what we had up our sleeves for a simple Friday night dinner!
In my defense, I thought we followed the recipe perfectly. In retrospect maybe we didn’t account for different oven temperatures? Who knows. All I know is that we followed that recipe! I am not lying. It also looked perfectly done (in a candlelit room) when we pulled it out of the oven.
I think we all know where this story goes. It wasn’t good. Actually, it was horrible. I think we may have served slightly undercooked chicken to our loved ones. I guess we could have killed them. We didn’t though! Thank God…because that would have screwed up my vision for this blog.
I doubt I will be given the opportunity to roast a chicken for guests anytime soon. Oh, and if I was looking for an engagement ring out of this meal I doubt I inspired him to buy me one.
HA
365til30.com 
we got to get you a meat thermometer…. I think it’s suppose to be somewhere around 150 degrees…. but remember that it should sit for at least 10 minutes when you take it out of the oven and it continues to cook a bit…. you also don’t want to overcook == dried out chicken leaves lasting less than wonderful memories! Sean has memories, none to pleasant, of his Mom’s Sunday night over cooked chicken!
Get back on the saddle and throw another bird in the oven! Love your blogs….
Kevin & Sean
“Get back on the saddle and throw another bird in the oven!” Ha! Thanks for the tips Kevin! I will not give up!
DO NOT be discouraged.
Simplest/ NO FAIL chicken recipe: Wash a whole chicken. Spray a metal pan with Spam (or any anti-stick spray…olive oil etc.),(if you do not want to scrub a pan foil pans are always a great idea as you can just toss the whole thing) Pour a box of kosher salt in the prepared pan. Wash an apple/orange or both, slightly cut it in, get spices that go with chicken: pepper, rosemary, any mixes, etc.: sprinkle into the cavity of the chicken and rub it around with your hand. Put in fruit. Poke the chicken all over with a fork, especially close to the bones. Sit chicken with breast up onto salt. Cover with Alu.foil. Put into oven -preheated- at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil, brush with a bit of oil/butter/beer. Put back into oven at 350 for approx. an hour (depending on oven… maybe 1.5). To check if it is cooked: cut into chicken by the bones…it should not bleed or look pink.
You can not mess this up. The trick is to make sure ANY meat is cooked through (roasts, chicken) is to cover the meat with foil on a higher temperature and when it is basically cooked through you roast it. Make sure the foil is not sticking to the meat but has a bit of space so the steam can move around.
When you make pork roast brushing it with beer will make it very yummy!
You can also use chicken broth for chicken and beef broth for beef. They come in boxes or can make some from a cube. It is very simple!!!
xoxoxoxo
Erika!!! Thank you sooooooo much for these fab tips!!!!! I will be trying this again! xoxoxoxoxo
HA!!!!!!! Soo ridic. Next time perhaps we should stick to either a vegetarian meal or one made in a slow cooker!!! (If they’d trust us again??Sorry Bri!) xx
that is pretty funny! i’ve never tried to roast a whole chicken and now i’m scared thanks to this post, LOL. i consider myself a pretty good cook though, so i guess i will just stick to what i know! 🙂
I was SOOO excited to read this last night when I got home from work and completely forgot to, tonight is the night! I bet it’s hilarious based on the photos…..
Holy crap Brian got sick from this? Oh so not funny but SOOOOO funny!!!! I promise you can do it again, once you learn the thermometer is your friend you will be a pro! GREAT POST!!!!! Loved it!