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| One piece is missing. It's on the burner. |
My Emile Henry ceramic Flame cookware lives on a rather tall (plant stand) and skinny set of shelves, one piece per shelf. I can cook with it in the oven or on the burner surface. It's my most valued cooking tool of all times.
To start, buy a small Springer brand chicken, the
least large available. If you need to cook more, in order to have plenty, two are way tastier than one large bird.
You will also benefit from a serving of the new Campbell's broth for the Keurig. I like it for cooking far better than any broth I've tried other than my own homemade stock. You won't need as much salt, however, and your own favorite tried-and-true liquids will work as well.
I cleaned my 3.3 pound yellow free range chicken, reminiscent of Aunt Inez's yard birds. I placed the chicken in the middle of the roaster and spaced the livers (I got more than my share in this package), gizzard, and neck around it.
I threw in a roughly chopped Vidalia onion as well as a bulb of local garlic, all of the small cloves yet to be peeled. Also, I sprinkled ample chopped dried basil, oregano, and rosemary from my garden-wall herb garden. A few pinches of dried and shredded Thai pepper. Yes! You remember that Tom and Jack harvest herbs and peppers all summer long! That is about as local as one can get! I ground fresh pepper and sea salt slivers gingerly over everything.
Note: Money saver. We used the empty store brand bottles, below, to store our crop - simply printed
Home Grown on the fronts with magic marker.
With the poultry and root veggies (Sigh. I didn't have a
carrot!) in their places, I poured some of the broth, to which I had added a teaspoon or so of butter, over all. Actually, I used more than I needed and proceeded to boil it down a little before I put the lid on the dish. There's a way to do everything.
The burner is on the lowest setting. The aroma is beginning to fill the house. Chicken cooked in Flame cookware is so much tastier than when using a crock pot; a flavorful and tender dish.
I know crockpots produce dishes that are relished by many families and are more nutritional than some other options; however, it's my firm belief that diners, in general, have forgotten (what with the advent of fast food, pre-flavored poultry parts ready for the oven, that constant taste of the grilling and charring of chicken breasts, and delicatessen overcooking) how a roasted chicken is supposed to taste.
Had this been pork or beef, even lamb, I would have seasoned amply and stashed the whole dish overnight in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld before cooking. I would have needed more time, this morning, in order to return the food to room temperature, but the taste would have been outstanding.
I don't mess with poultry. Out of the package and into the pot is my best advice for the iffy, germ-morphing kitchen of today.
Later: my bird is in a good place, having self-braised on stovetop for over an hour, to go into the oven for a quick browning. Oven is on 400. When the skin is crisp, I'll check for the doneness of the dish. It usually depends on the size of the bird, the time on the burner, the amount of the broth, and other factors. Yes. I am saying that one can never tell. I can always finish the dish off stove top, but I've never had to do it.
Common sense calls for me to brown the chicken first and
then simmer slowly with the lid on. But no. I want the skin to get crispy and stay crispy. I don't usually cook according to Hoyle.
1 PM: My Sunday Chicken is resting now. My plan was to chop it up as soon as it was cool. I wanted to make a summer Thai dish in which pre-roasted breast meat may be used,yam top gait tian,a coconut chicken salad. I also wanted chicken sandwiches with pickles. I don't think so. Maybe later in the week according to the amount left over. Sunday Chicken is what's for supper!
P.S. I am trying hard not to drip the juices from these amazing chicken livers that I am munching into my electronics. Otherwise, life is grand!
