haha this stuff is hilarious.. br woodrow especially.. you know me so well
.. luckily I told my Br. to have the butcher remove all the icky poos from this chicken, I really don't want to deal with innards.. it reminds me anatomy and I refuse to eat something dissectable. but I digress..
I want the remedial intro pls..
starting with disinfecting the chicken to the trimmings to the temp to how long in there for..
I would also like to get rid of some stuff I have in the fridge, like zucchini and fennel and mushrooms and ginger etc etc....
them "icky poos" ARE desirable. you brown them off in the oven and throw them in a pot of water with a mirepoix [carrots, celery & onions]; this will eventually be a lip-smackin' gravy, In Sha'a Allah!
disinfecting the chicken? are you cooking in the operating room? just rinse in cold water.
how and why are you buying a whole chicken? [my wife has been asking for one as well, but only cuz she has never eaten a whole chicken.] they best buy for chicken is usually the leg & thighs. drumsticks are cheaper, but have less meat and thigh-only packs use tiny thighs. the most expensice is usually the breasts. for leg & thigh or drumsticks, use the crushed rosemary recipe i posted before. breasts, while expensive give you alot more choices, sauteed, baked, i likes 'em in Al Fredo!
-break-oh and i had to eat breakfast after seeing the pic zAk posted-
i have never seen a BIG halal whole chicken. they usually look like capons on steroids. what size is the chicken? the bigger, the better for baking, too small, and i would boil/steam it and use the meat for a dish and the bones/carcass for a soup.
and free range veggie fed ARE better. also, some chicken marked halal is actually killed by machine with BismiAllah written on the blade. not sure iy you want to use that.
those cooking bags that burdenofbeing is talking about might be simple for you to use. if you have a larger hen, follow glo's recipe more closely.
if no-one wrote it, cook the chicken breast side up as you want to brown that part and it wouldn't hurt to sear that side in a pan of hot oil. a real big one you could start the other way, and then turn it over half way through.
i wouldn't season it with more than salt & pepper, rosemary and you COULD use some fennel.
IF you intend to make a gravy, which i'm just guessing you are not, but IF, throw some mirepoix in the pan around the chicken. when you take the chicken out [of the oven and out of the pan]; put some water [or stock if you have it] in the pan and "deglaze" it. strain that, move to clean pan and add a smidgen of roux [equal portions of butter and flour cooked 6 minutes and NOT browned, although for a dark gravy, browned is OK]. you COULD use just flour & water, but then be wary of the taste -cook it at least 6 minutes.
take your zucchini and cut in half the long way. then take those halves and cut them on a bias [diagonal], but pretty thin. almost the same thickness of those mushrooms you posted before and use some of those mushrooms cut the same way. heat in a little olive oil [IF you seared your chicken in oil, use some of THAT oil] use a wide saute pan and cook quickly. half way through add the mushrooms, just before it's done, add a ounce or two of Martinellis, toss and take off of the heat. add salt and pepper and a little bit of whole butter and toss again. [cooks in minutes, 5-7]
back to the chicken, the more nervous you are, use a lower temp. 375 will give you a nice color, but you'll have to watch more closely. if you sear/brown the hen first, you could go 300 to 325. it'll take a wee bit longer, but it gives you more room for error. [and the natives might get restless waiting].
