The basic ingredients for The-Best Ever Roast Chicken
About 13 years ago I happened across one of the greatest wonders invented for baking. I have to tell you, it rocked my world.
When Most Wonderful Hubby and I first started out in this adventure of marriage, about the only type of meat I could cook that was fit for human consumption was ham. Not real ham. The kind of ham that comes pressed into an oblong form filled with water and preservatives. I could bake pies, cookies, cakes and anything that was sweet and horribly bad for you. Bread and rolls were simple enough to make. I was even fairly handy with salads and side dishes. But when it came to meat, I was pretty hopeless. My culinary expertise with meat was that you either boiled it until it resembled shoe leather or put it under the broiler and achieved much the same shoe leather result.
It was with great joy and celebrating that we ate the first chicken I made in a clay baker. It roasts chicken to perfection – juicy, tender, awesome!
The baker comes in two pieces. The bottom is basically glazed terra cotta and the top is unglazed. You soak the lid for 10-15 minutes in water. You put your food in the bottom, plop on the lid and place the baker into a cold oven. That is when the magic starts. As the pan warms and the food begins to cook, that lid steams the food to a form of excellence rarely known to normal taste buds. This pan works so well, a pork roast even survived an unfortunate incident with one of those pads they stick in with meat to absorb all the juice, but that is a tale for another day.
The only problem is, the company that manufactured this wonderful baker has gone out of business. So I’ve scoured the internet and found this suitable substitute.
If you haven’t tried baking in clay, give it a whirl. You’ll be very glad you did! Here is my recipe for the roast chicken.
The Best-Ever Roast Chicken
1 4-5 pound baking chicken
2-3 pounds of potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
salt
pepper
salt-free seasoning
1-2 tbsp. melted butter
Soak lid for 10-15 minutes. While it is soaking, dig the innards out of your chicken (if it has any) and rinse under cool water. Place it in the bottom of the baker. Peel and chunk potatoes. I like to cut them into bite-sized pieces. I also like to use baby reds when they are available and I skip the whole peeling process because there are a lot of other things I’d rather do than peel potatoes. Place potatoes around the chicken then dump in the carrots. You could also put in some onion pieces. Onions are on the “not consumable” list at our house, so I skip this step. Once you’ve got everything in the baker, sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoning. If you like to use fresh herbs, you could put in rosemary, sage or basil.
Once the lid has soaked, place on top of the bottom and put into a cold oven. This is very important. Do not preheat the oven or you could crack your baker. Set the temp to 375 and bake for about two hours. I always like to use a meat thermometer to make sure the meat is up to the appropriate temp. When it is, I take off the lid, and baste the bird with the butter then let brown up for a few minutes (who can pass up crispy, brown chicken skin?).
Crispy, Golden Best-Ever Roast Chicken
Remove from oven, slice meat and enjoy!
Happy Entertaining!
I am not a representative or selling agent for Reston Lloyd. Just giving you a link to a product that appears similar to the one I have.
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Savvy Entertaining 