Mustard and Rosemary Roasted Chicken (21DSD-friendly!)

January 3, 2013 in Meat and Poultry

What do I love most about roasting whole chicken?  It’s easy, takes very little time to prepare, makes several meal’s worth (I always cook two at a time), the cooked meat freezes really well for future meals, it’s a fairly cheap meat (even free-range and pastured chickens can be found relatively inexpensively), you get to save the bones for bone broth, and it’s delicious!   Is it okay to have seven favorite things?

Where do you buy fully pastured chicken?  Both US Wellness Meats sells it and GrassFed Traditions sells it (both for similar prices).  You can also buy free-range chicken at Trader Joe’s (for only $2.50/lb) and many other grocery stores and specialty food stores (like Whole Foods).

This particular seasoning for roast chicken is amazing—especially if you want to make gravy with the pan juices!  I know that making pan gravy can be daunting for many, but it really isn’t that hard and it’s so worth the effort with this chicken!  It takes a little practice to eyeball how much thickener you need, when it’s as thick as you like it, how to handle clumps—but the great part is that gravy is good stuff even if it’s too thin, too thick, or slightly lumpy.

To make pan gravy, place the roasting pan (without the cooked chickens or rack on top) onto a large element on the stove.  Turn to medium-high heat (or slightly hotter) and bring the juices to a simmer (if it’s more of a boil, turn down the heat a little).  Meanwhile, mix about ¼ cup of arrowroot powder or kuzu starch (my favorite two paleo-friendly starches for making gravy) with about ¼ cup cold water (to dissolve it, this helps with the clumps).  Pour the starchy water into the pan while whisking like crazy with a wire whisk.  Keep whisking until the gravy has thickened (takes 3-4 minutes).  If it’s not thick enough for you (this depends in large part on how much juices you have in your pan), repeat with more arrowroot powder or kuzu starch (if it’s close, just try 2 Tbsp).  If you end up with some starch lumps, simply pour your gravy through a strainer before serving.  If your gravy ends up too thick, thin it out with a little hot water.  Just don’t try to make gravy for the first time at the same time as you are minding other pots on the stovetop.

 

Ingredients:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Remove chickens from packaging, pat dry with paper towels, remove any giblets (save these for making bone broth!) and place on your roasting pan, using the rack insert that comes with the pan.
  3. Melt lard or coconut oil and mix with Dijon and rosemary.  Baste the entire surface of both chickens with the mustard sauce (I just use my hands).
  4. Roast chickens for 20 minutes per pound (or until a meat thermometer reads at least 165F—it’s standard to cook until breast meat reads 180F).
  5. Make pan gravy with the juices if desired.  Carve and serve!

Asian-Inspired Chicken Wings

July 18, 2012 in Meat and Poultry

No, this is not teriyaki.  This is something so much better!  The flavor combination was actually inspired by the traditional Chinese preparation of chicken or duck feet (yeah yeah, I know, but I’m not asking you to eat feet here and it really works with wings).  The flavor is distinctly Asian but at the same time works really well with typical Western side dishes.  We ate these wings with salad, steamed vegetables and watermelon on the side and they were delicious (they’d be great with some stir fried veggies on the side too!).  The longer you marinate these wings, the better.  You could get away with a few hours, but I far prefer overnight.  We barbecued these wings, which is definitely my recommendation, but they could be baked in the oven too.  Yields 4-5 servings.

Ingredients:

1.    Place chicken wings in a large bowl (if overly wet, pat dry with paper towel).
2.    Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a small saucepan.  Add ginger, garlic, anise and fennel seed and cook, stirring so that it doesn’t burn, until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
3.    Add coconut aminos, honey, vinegar, and fish sauce.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute.
4.    Remove from heat and add sesame oil.
5.    Pour over chicken wings, and stir to coat.  Once chicken wings have cooled enough to handle, cover and place in refrigerator to marinate overnight (up to 24 hours).  Stir the wings once or twice during marinating to make sure they are evenly treated.  (I really like to marinate my wings in a large re-sealable bag, because I can remove the air and lay all the wings flat so they are more evenly coated with marinade.  Instead of stirring, I just flip the bag over!)
6.    Drain excess marinade off wings.  Barbecue wings until cooked, turning once (something like 20 minutes total depending on how hot your grill is).  Alternatively, you could place the wings on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil (might want to grease first) and bake at 375F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until fully cooked (internal temperature should reach 180F).
7.    Enjoy!