Chicken Anatomy 101

I’m going to call today Battle of the Chicken.

I started off this morning in a cheerful, ambitious mood. I had decided that today I was going to roast my first chicken! While I have never roasted one before, I have made Cornish hens on several occasions and have even helped with the T-day Turkey once or twice. I went into today thinking I was going to stuff some lemons in a chicken, pop it in the oven, and have dinner on the table for Eric when he came over for dinner. Not so, oh naïve one.

Just thawin' away... I have little patience by the way...

I started out by thawing my chicken; I know enough to not put a frozen bird in the oven. I noticed, however, that the neck was stuffed in the…well, rear… cavity of the bird. Hmm, that’s odd.

I began to wash the chicken and took hold of the neck to pull it out (anyone in my family reading this will be surprised to know that while I faint at the thought of human anatomy, chicken appendages don’t really freak me out). The darn neck would not budge. I pulled and pulled and pulled. It got to the point where there was only one thing I could do. My last resort. My white flag.

I called mom.

After sending several picture texts (that probably resemble CSI forensic photos) and discussing my predicament with my mom, dad, and my mom’s IVIG nurse, I was told to just run hot water on the chicken until the neck thawed inside the bird enough to be pulled out. 

I’ve never been so happy to see a neck depart from a chicken. My next skirmish resulted when I could not locate a giblet bag. I’ve seen turkey giblet bags, and they’re pretty obvious. If there were giblets in this chicken the bag was well hidden indeed. I used my phone flashlight and scanned the inner cavity the best I could (don’t worry, I washed my hands, phone, counters, sink, ceiling, TV, back porch light, etc. 5 times or so, I don’t do salmonella). No giblet bag to be found.

Another call to my parents, a glance at the package (may include giblets, that’s helpful), and a leap of faith later, I plopped the frustrating bird in the roasting pan to start dressing.

All the ingredients I stuffed into the rebellious poultry

This recipe was, well, adapted from Eat Live Run’s Classic Roast Chicken recipe. I had to adapt a lot. For one, my chicken was 2 lbs larger that the recommendation so I upped the time and a few of the ingredients. I also didn’t mince my herbs but rather stuffed them in the cavity with the lemons like my mama does with her famous T-day turkey. 

After a long day of wrestling with this gutless (literally, I never found the giblet bag) chicken, I finally popped him in the over for about 95 minutes at 425 degrees. By the time Eric got off work, there was luckily only 20 or so minutes to go and I was praying that chicken tasted alright. 

I was tired of dissecting at this point so Eric took over

The skin, which I had placed pads of unsalted butter underneath, tasted marvelous. Nice and crisp. I wish I had remembered the old trick I use with cornish hens - bake them breast side down to ensure a juicier white meat - because the meat was a little dry. All in all though, I think I won The Battle of the Chicken. Prepping and roasting my first large poultry in my teeny apartment kitchen is accomplishment enough for me! 

If you'd like the recipe I adapted this from, follow the link above. If you'd like my recipe, hold onto your hats.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

5 lb roasting hen (the smallest I could find!)

5 tbsp unsalted butter

fresh thyme sprigs

fresh rosemary sprigs

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 large lemon

2 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Directions:

Be sure you have thawed your chicken! Completely!

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash the chicken thoroughly and remove giblets (if there are any) as well as necks...

Cut your lemon in half and stick in the bird along with washed sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Add the minced garlic to the cavity as well.

Lift up the skin (easier to lift near the openings) and place pads of butter in between the meat and the skin. Be sure to spread your butters pieces out evenly. 

Salt the whole chicken. 

Put in the oven in a roasting pan (I recommend breast side down) for 95 minutes or until 165 degrees internal temperature. 

Voila, roast chicken for dinner!