Feta Brined Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken Project #6 - Feta Brined Roast Chicken

Welcome to the halfway point of the Roast Chicken Project! We've had classic versions of roast chicken, both Julia's and Judy's, a lazy version, a time saving cast iron version, and an aromatic,  milk-bathed version. And in this most recent RCP installment, I've continued the chicken in dairy trend from last month and progressed to soaking my chicken in actual cheese!

Well, sort of. 

This roast chicken is my very first brined bird! I mean, I've brined chicken pieces in buttermilk before before frying, but I've never brined a whole bird before roasting. Everything I've read about brining always seemed like way too much work and mess for a debatable payoff, with some devotees claiming brining is the only way to get a juicy bird, and others claiming it's the best way to ensure your poultry comes out tasting like a sponge. No thank you. 

But, feta brining is something I'd heard about that intrigued me, if only because I absolutely adore feta above almost all other cheeses, and because I first encountered the idea from one of my favorite restaurants in SF, where I had only never tried the chicken because they insist on serving it with fennel (it's ok, they make lamb). I thought maybe it would be like combining the benefits of a buttermilk brine with the saltiness of a dry brine. Plus, this method didn't call for a ton of aromatics and spices, only a hunk of feta and some water. Seemed easy!

So, I whizzed up some feta and water in a blender, added some extra bonus brine from the feta container, and plopped my chicken in to relax overnight. Then I shoved a lemon and some fresh oregano in the cavity, rubbed it with some more oregano, lemon zest, and salt and pepper, and roasted it.

And the result was by far my favorite chicken I've made so far for this project, and one I'm going to be looking for any excuse to make, aka, "Oops why did I buy so much feta, whatever will I do with it?" 

I completely forgot to baste it, but it turned out beautifully burnished and crispy anyway, with succulent meat imbued with lemon and oregano. I have to admit I'm not sure if the brining added any real contribution to the final result, but it definitely didn't taste spongy, so yay? I also didn't really notice any feta flavor in the chicken, but that's what the sauce is for! 

Definitely put this one in the "win" column.

And by the way, if you look at this recipe and decide you don't want to bother with the sauce, let me tell you that is a terrible idea because 1) it takes two seconds and 2) I would honestly drink it by the bowlful, it was that good.  

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Feta Brined Roast Chicken

Adapted from Melissa Clark.

• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled (plus 1/4 cup feta brine, if using a brined feta)
• 3 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• One 3.5 lb whole chicken
• 2 tbs pepper
• a few handfuls fresh oregano
• 2 large lemons
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large bunch peppery greens, such as arugula

1. In a blender, puree 2 oz feta, 2 tsp salt, and 4 cups of water in a blender, and add the feta brine if using. 
2. In a large bowl or brining bag, submerge the chicken in the brine, cover, and refrigerate overnight, or at least 8 hours (my chicken wasn't completely submerged in the bowl, so I flipped it halfway through brining time).
3. When ready to roast, remove chicken from brine, pat dry, and bring to room temperature for 1 hour. Discard the brine. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4. After 1 hour, in a small bowl, combine 1 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, 2 tbs chopped oregano, and the zest of both lemons. Spread over chicken and massage into the bird. Halve the lemons and place 3 halves into the cavity of the chicken with remaining oregano. Tie the legs together.
5. Preheat a heavy skillet over high heat, add the olive oil and heat until it is just smoking. Place the chicken, breast side up, in the hot pan (it should sizzle!) and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 50-60 minutes.
6. Remove chicken from oven. Remove the lemons from the cavity and carefully tip the chicken to drain the juices into the pan. Transfer chicken to a cutting board to rest, at least 10 minutes. Stir the remaining feta into the hot juices in the pan whisk into a sauce. 
7. Toss the greens with a bit of the sauce, then carve the chicken and serve with the greens and remaining sauce.

Chicken in Milk

Roast Chicken Project #5 - Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk

Wait, chicken in what? 

Yeah, this does kind of sound like some cross-species culinary experiment gone awry, or at the very least a recipe for soggy chicken stewing in curdled milk. And while that description is not as comfortably far off the mark as I might like it to be, trust me when I assure you that this particular roast chicken really is delicious. It's also one that I've only ever made for holidays, when the warm spices and herbs included in the aromatics fit in well with both Christmas or Thanksgiving tables. Which might make it weird to bring up now, when I am telling you about a recipe I haven't made since November, but this chicken would be delicious year round, even if it is currently too hot in most of the country to bear the thought of turning on the oven.

 But if you do turn on the oven, you won't regret it. This chicken gets a quick browning in olive oil and then a long, hot bath in milk flavored with lemon, cinnamon, garlic and sage. After about an hour and a half, the reward is a succulent, browned roasted chicken falling off the bone that is so, so, juicy. And my favorite part, after trying out roast chicken recipes like this one that require near constant basting, is that Oliver tells you to baste "when you remember." I can do that. And what about the milk? It does tend to separate into curds and a chickeny, herby, garlicky sauce, that together make a golden gravy you're going to want to pour all over your chicken. 

Another great thing about this roast chicken recipe is its versatility. If cinnamon and sage sound a bit autumnal to you, the switch them out for more summery flavors. The Kitchn has a great variation with lemongrass and cilantro that also subs in coconut milk for the dairy. I've made both versions, and they are both excellent.

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Chicken in Milk

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

• One 3.5-4 lb chicken
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• ½ stick cinnamon
• 1 good handful fresh sage leaves
• zest from 2 lemons
• 10 cloves garlic , skin left on
• 2 cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously salt the chicken inside and out and season with black pepper.
2. In a dutch oven (or metal pot large enough to snugly hold the chicken), heat about a tbs of the olive oil. Brown the chicken just until it gets a bit of color all over, then remove chicken and pour off the olive oil. Add the chicken back to the pot and add the remaining ingredients, then transfer to the preheated oven.
3. Roast for about 90 minutes, until chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Serve with the sauce.

Simple & Quick Cast Iron Roasted Chicken

Roast Chicken #4 - Mark Bittman's "Simplest Roast Chicken"

For this month’s installment of The Roast Chicken Project, I present to you a roast chicken billed as the “Simplest Roast Chicken” by a man who taught us to cook everything. I would agree that this chicken is simple, but it would also be appropriate to call it the easiest roast chicken, minimalist roast chicken, weeknight roast chicken, etc. You get the idea. This chicken is easy, and a great no-frills recipe for when you don’t have 3 hours to make dinner. Yes, it does call for specialty cookware with the cast iron pan, but really, why don’t you have one of those yet?

So does oh so simple recipe work? Does a blast of high heat and shorter roasting time give us a chicken that is juicy, crispy, and satisfying in flavor? Yes, yes it does. The olive oil and the high heat give the chicken a super crispy skin (and a lot of smoke - this one needs strong fan and an open window), and the salt and pepper, if you use them generously, give the chicken great seasoning. Seriously, don’t skimp on the salt! The dark meat and breast meat were both done at the same time, although the breast on my bird was a little dry, but I’m willing to attribute that to the fact that the breast was tiny on this particular chicken and I may have roasted it at a higher temperature than called for because my oven doesn’t regulate very well. There is no flipping of the bird (hehe) in this recipe, and the skin on the bottom wasn’t as crispy as the top from sitting in the drippings, but that was a minor sacrifice for less hassle, in my opinion.  I turned those drippings into a most delicious pan sauce with minimal effort, and served myself a delicious, fancy-ish chicken dinner in a little over an hour. Not too shabby.

For sure this is a winner for weeknight chicken dinner, because there is no drying overnight, no tucking of wings or trussing, and no basting or flipping. It’s the epitome of last minute, hands off roast chicken, and is definitely staying in the rotation in my kitchen.

But, ahem, a note of caution from personal experience. This recipe is a wonder, but it only works if you put the chicken in the pan right side up, aka breast up. The first time I made this recipe I wasn’t paying attention and I put my chicken in upside down. The dark meat was underdone and I’m sure you can imagine what happened to the white meat. Just don’t do it, ok? Keep those pointy wing ends sticking up to the sky.

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Simple & Quick Cast Iron Roasted Chicken

Adapted from Mark Bittman

One, 3-4 lb chicken
3 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Heat preheat oven to 500 degrees, and heat a cast iron pan in the oven while it preheats. 
2. Pat chicken dry and rub with the olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper (don't skimp on the salt!).
3. When oven is at 500 degrees, pull out the cast iron pan and place the chicken breast side up in the pan. It will immediately begin sizzling. Return pan with chicken to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and continue roasting. Check chicken after 45 minutes. Insert instant thermometer into the meatiest part of a thigh and if temperature is 155-165 degrees, chicken is done. Continue roasting if not at temperature, checking every 5 or 10 minutes.
4. Lift chicken from the pan and tip so that any juices run out of the cavity into the pan. Remove chicken to a cutting board to rest for at least 15 minutes, then carve and serve.
5. While chicken is resting, you can make a pan sauce. Place cast iron pan over medium high heat, and to the drippings add a couple spoonfuls of flour and whisk together to form a roux (you can pour off some of the juices and drippings before adding the flour, if you have more than a couple table spoons). To this add about 1/2 cup water or chicken stock (or more, if necessary), fresh herbs, a splash of wine, and anything else you have on hand that might be good. I added thyme and rosemary, a splash of a dry rose wine, and about 1/4 cup of frozen orange juice I had in the freezer. Let mixture thicken, finish off with a pat of butter and serve alongside the chicken.