Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

We've had such gloomy, rainy weather lately and that usually keeps me at home and in the kitchen. Because I gave up red meat for Lent I've been able to experiment with other types of protein, but, no matter what, you really can't go wrong with a perfectly roasted chicken. It might not be the fanciest thing on the planet, but is certainly comforting when done right. My dinner the other night was chicken with Portobello mushroom gravy (just a white gravy with 'shrooms), baked potato, and broccoli.

Before I get into the how-to part, I need to warn you - this is only for one person. Literally all of my meals are made for one unless I'm back home (desserts are a different story), so please keep this in mind when making any of my recipes for a family.

So... Wanna know the secret to tender, juicy, flavorful chicken? Bake it in a bag! I usually wrap my chicken in a little foil packet, bake it, open the packet, and bake it some more. This will give you the most moist piece of poultry every. single. time.

This is what I did...

First, I give my bird a salt bath by placing it in a large container and adding enough water to cover the chicken. Then, I add a tablespoon of salt and mix it around until it gets completely dissolved. Cover the container and let sit for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 400°.

Meanwhile, cut a large piece of foil to fully wrap the chicken plus some extra. This part is completely optional, but I like to flavor pretty much anything savory with garlic. I crushed 2 large cloves of garlic and put them in the middle of the foil. Then, I washed and drained my chicken and placed it on top of the garlic. Sprinkled it with a little salt and black pepper, wrapped it so that very little air could get through, and popped it into the oven for 20 minutes. Once the 20-25 minutes have elapsed, take the chicken out, open the bag up completely, and bake for another 10 minutes to get that nice golden color (or if you're in a hurry, pop it under the broiler for 2-3 mins). Take that sucker out.

Now, I am a huge fan of side dishes. I can't have just a steak or just salmon. I need something to go with it. The broccoli I had that night was simply steamed, but that baked potato... Well, that potato was on a different level. I'm used to baked potatoes taking anywhere upwards from an hour to fully cook, but this way I was able to cut the time in half! What I do is that I slice the potato, but I don't cut it all the way so it still maintains it's shape. (You can do this by putting a chopstick on both sides of the potato as you cut. This keeps you from slicing all the way through). Rub it with some olive oil and add salt/spices to your liking. I put garlic and rosemary in between each potato slice. Bake using the foil bag method at 400° for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove potato from foil and bake at 550° for 5-10 more minutes. Plate with your chicken and broccoli and eat your precious, little heart out, babes. You deserve it.

P.S. - When it comes to cooking, I pretty much wing it. So my apologies for my lack of any real structure/measurements to this. And thanks to my cousin, for allowing me to help her birdie in its time of need. It showed me that I need to let others know their way around food and be more dedicated to my blogging endeavor. In the words of Chicago, "You're the meaning in my life, you're the inspiration."