Mom's Roast Chicken and why I can't make it...

it's been forever since i've had time to post on this little project... over a year!

over the last year, we've cooked and eaten lots of things since and have been trying to eat and cook from home or at least close to home. we no longer get the Farm Fresh delivery but we do have a nice garden that we'll start growing herbs, fruit and vegetables in and we'll supplement from the local farmer's market when we can.

one of the things we decided to try more last year was roasting poultry. i've done this a lot before, especially chicken breasts for sandwich meat but this last year we really tried to do it more often since it's a good way to get a really tasty meal that's relatively in-expensive and... i finally decided to experiment a bit to get the best chicken possible. my mom used to make a great roast chicken that i tried to replicate with very little success...which bugged me because it seemed so simple. i think mostly because i didn't brown it correctly. i can make it just fine if i quarter the chicken, but not if i try to do a whole chicken like she did.

here's the basic recipe from what i could remember and you'll see why it bugs me that i can't do it with a whole chicken...

this is all you need:

1 whole roasting chicken
soy sauce
2-3 onions sliced
chinese seasoning salt
white pepper

you rub down the chicken with a bit of the soy sauce, white pepper and seasoning salt let sit for a bit (i let it sit a couple hours)
brown the chicken slightly in a wok with peanut oil
cover the bottom of a roasting pan with the sliced onions and place the chicken on top
add a small bit of water to the pan
roast the chicken in a over pre-heated to 350F for about an hour, hour and 10 minutes or until cooked through (about 180F internal).

and that's it... and yet i can't seem tho get the right skin texture that my mom got... eeerrrrrggghhhh!

here's what we've done fairly consistently well. we've also started to consistently brine our poultry to keep it moist and flavorful throughout.

brining liquid:

white wine
1/4 a cup of coarse salt dissolved in 5 cups of water
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
any herbs you like (we use rosemary, thyme, sage and if we have any, juniper berries

i quarter my chicken and brine the pieces in zip-loc bags starting in the morning or in the refrigerator overnite and take them out in the morning. before roasting, make sure you dry your chicken a bit so the skin gets crispy and let the meat get to room temperature.

in a roasting pan, add sliced onions, carrots, celery and the fresh herbs from the brine.

rub the chicken with butter and and a little fresh herbs and roast at 375F for about 45mins or until the skin is crispy and the meat done.

it's pretty easy and works 98% of the time. of course, like anything i do... i tinker a bit each time i make it so be brave and try other things to make it taste the way you like! just be willing to eat your mistakes!