Whole chicken is one of the best value meats you can buy at the moment and not just the scary battery birds – no thanks.
You can buy a free-range chicken in Dunnes for only €5.99 and this is a big fella that will stretch to a couple of meals, sandwiches and of course the all important stock.
I love roast chicken on a Sunday but my husband thinks roast chicken is boring and dry so I try and come up with new ways to fool him into eating it. Thinking it was just a gimmick, I tried this stand-up chicken recipe at the weekend but I was amazed at the results.
By placing a can half-filled with water into the cavity of the bird and cooking it standing-up, the meat came out really succulent and moist. It did look bizarre and I did feel a little weird sticking a can up a bird but it’s certainly worth a go and this particular recipe has a lovely rotisserie flavour.
I first saw a stand-up chicken being prepared in a odd but hilarious You Tube clip of the actor Christopher Walken making stand-up chicken with pears. It’s hard to belive it’s actually him – check it out.
Stand-up Roast Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1 free-range chicken
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 330ml can, half-filled with water
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 200C and position one oven rack on bottom adjustment, removing others.
- Line a baking tray with tin foil.
- Remove bag of giblets from chicken cavity, if present, and wash chicken inside and out with cold water.
- Slip your fingers underneath skin covering breasts and separate skin from flesh but leave skin intact.
- In small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, paprika and brown sugar.
- Rub seasoning inside chicken cavity, underneath skin onto flesh, and on top of skin.
- Place can on baking tray and slide chicken tail-down onto can so chicken stands up on baking sheet.
- If breast meat is exposed, stretch skin over flesh and secure with toothpicks.
- Roast and juices run clear instead of pink.
- Remove from oven and wrap loosely with foil. Let chicken sit for 10 to 15 minutes to allow juices to redistribute.