If you watch Dexter you will understand this post. And if you don’t, Dexter is a serial killer with a code of honor and always when he is about to kill someone he encases the whole room with plastic to avoid leaving behind any evidence of his crime. And to deal with raw chicken I also think I have to create a safe zone. That’s the first time I try to roast a chicken from scratch, I usually buy it already done or peaces of chicken already clean & deboned, no skin, antibiotics free, free range, organic, You know… ready to use.
But this blog is giving me courage to try new things all the time. I know roasting a chicken is no big deal, but coming from me believe me it is. To understand that we have to go back in time a little bit. When I went to Australia to study I had members of my family telling me that I should learn something useful something to jump start a career. (I had just separate from my ex- husband) so with that in mind I started a course in Hotel Management…and in the first 6 months you start learning how a hotel kitchen works. So, I had to wear a Chef’s uniform and learn everything that goes on in a restaurant kitchen which usually meant being screamed at by the chef asking you for whatever he wanted. One morning we were trying to prep some chicken for lunch time, the chef screamed so much that I think I lost part of my hearing that day. I guess the chef’s universal teaching techniques are based on traumatizing you so you learn. He said that you could kill someone with cross contamination, so his technique sure worked on me. Because after that every time I have to cook chicken I prepare the kitchen like Dexter preparing to kill his victims. I use gloves, separate board, separate knife, and antibacterial spray ready to use. Even touching the packaging in the supermarket make me a bit suspicious, in my sick mind I see all the killer bacteria’s ready to claim my life. But as I said this blog is making me very brave and slowly I’m overcoming my fears. And about the hotel management course, thankfully I switched to Graphic Design and that was the best decision I have done. But 6 months learning how a kitchen works gave me a lot of help with my cooking and good knife skills.
Chicken with Meyer Lemon
Ingredients
- 1 (5 to 6-pound) whole chicken
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large bunch fresh thyme
- 4 lemons
- 1 garlic head, cut in 1/2 crosswise
- 1 big onion sliced
- 2 carrots
- 2 big potatoes
- Celery
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, 1 lemon halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Slice 1 lemon and tuck under the chicken breast skin. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. I made a bed of onions, celery, carrots and potato and place the chicken on top. So when you are finished you already have a yummy side dish. Roast the chicken for 1 hour and a half, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.