[Sca-cooks] 7 lb chicken results

[Michael Gunter]

Here's what I did with the monster.
 
Once it was defrosted and removed from the plastic wrapper I removed the
giblets and trimmed a lot of the extra fat.
 
I loosened the skin from around the muscle along the breast and legs. The skin
was thicker and the connecting tissue was tougher than in the smaller birds.
Under the skin I rubbed a mix of pureed garlic and herbs into the meat and as
deep into the bird as possible.
 
In the cavity I placed a mixture of fresh poultry herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage,
etc...), an onion quarter and a half of a lemon. No salt or pepper was added.
 
I didn't have a roasting rack to fit the roaster so I took the period trick of taking
a bunch of bamboo skewers and breaking them to make a rack above the level
of the liquid.
 
Once the bird was on the makeshift rack I poured in a half cup of water and another
cup of chardonnay. Half of an onion was chunked and added as well as the other half
of the lemon with the juice squeezed into the liquid. 
 
The bird was covered tightly and placed in a 350 F oven for three hours.
 
Once cooked the skin had split over the breast and was quite thick. It may have been
good for roasting, I'm not sure. 
 
The meat was lovely and moist with the flavors of garlic, lemon and wine infused
throughout. I was worried about the fact that Her Highness had been fed chicken
fricassee at our place just a couple of nights before I broiled up some nice
flatiron steaks as well. But the most compliments were about the chicken. So I feel
it was a success even though it wasn't what I'd originally intended.
 
Gunthar
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