Delicious Roasted Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.  I first published in on my birthday in 2009.  I hope you enjoy it. :-)  If you don't like thyme try another herb that you prefer.  It would be good with sage or oregano or basil or other similar herbs.

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Here is a simple recipe that makes great tasting chicken! This is based on a recipe which I altered slightly by Marcella Hazan that was published in AARP magazine.

Roasted Chicken with Lemons

3-4 lb. chicken, washed and patted dry.

Salt

Pepper

Dried Thyme, crushed

2 small lemons

Butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut excess fat off of chicken (Do Not remove the skin).  Rub with a generous amount of salt and pepper both inside and out.

Wash and dry the lemons. Soften by rolling back and forth on the county while pressing down firmly with your palm. Puncture it in at least 20 places with a fork or skewer. Place both lemons inside the chicken.  Close the opening with toothpicks or a trussing needle and string.  (Do not make it airtight.)  Tie the legs in their natural position with string, if desired. (This is mostly useful for making it easier to turn the bird.)

Butter a roasting pan generously and place the chicken in it breast side down. Dot the chicken with bits of butter. Sprinkle lightly (three or four pinches) with crushed thyme. Place it in the upper 1/3 of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn chicken breast side up. Try not to puncture the skin, but don't worry if you do as it will still be good. Sprinkle top of chicken lightly with crushed thyme. (The top should be pretty well buttered with what you used to grease the pan. No need to add more.)

Cook another 30-35 minutes, then increase the temp. to 400° and cook 20-25 more minutes or longer depending on the size of the chicken. Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat (the breast) to check for doneness.  It should read 180°. Make sure you are not touching a bone when you use the tester. There's no need to turn the chicken again.

If it seems to be getting too well done on the outside and the inner temp. is not high enough yet, you may want to cover it lightly with aluminum foil to continue baking.

Serve the chicken whole and cut it up at the table. Leave the lemons inside until the bird is carved. They add a wonderful flavor to the broth in the pan.

I recommend serving this with a rice dish and pouring some of the broth over it at the table!  Delicious!

Thousand Word Project – Yellow

 

Fast Method Baklava

Here is a recipe for baklava that does not require the tedious method of layering butter and fillo dough sheet by sheet.  This is the only kind I’ve ever made and it always turns out well.  It is a family favorite!

I recommend making the syrup ahead of time, but if you do not remember, be sure to let the baklava cool completely before pouring the warm syrup over it.  Either the syrup or the baklava should be warm, but never both according to what I read.  For large batches of baklava it is recommended to let it cool first and put the warm syrup on later.  I have done it both ways, and they both work.
Some recipes call for unsalted butter, but I’ve used salted most of the time and it tasted fine.  The recipe below is actually a combination of two different recipes.  This is approximately how I made it the last time.
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1 pk. of fillo dough (about 20 – 30 sheets)
1 lb. butter, melted and with the solids skimmed off the top
3 - 4 C. ground walnuts (or pecans or unsalted pistachios)
1/2 C. sugar
2 Tbl. melted butter (I just take this out of the amount melted above.)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Honey Syrup
Preheat oven to 450F.  Brush 9 x 13 x 2-inch cake pan with butter.  Place half the fillo dough in the pan (about 10-15 sheets).  Spread all of filling mixture evenly over it.  Cover with remaining half of fillo sheets.  Cut into diamond shapes* using a good, sharp knife.  Spoon the melted (or clarified) butter over it making sure to  get it in all the cut lines and around the edges.  NOTE: Do not use the milky stuff in the bottom of the pan – only the clearer, golden colored part that looks like oil.
Bake in 450F oven for 8 minutes.  Turn off the oven and leave the baklava in the oven for 45 more minutes.  Do not open the oven during this time.
Remove from oven and spoon cooled syrup on the hot baklava making sure to cover all areas including around the edges, as with the butter.  It may be necessary to re-cut the baklava before removing it from the pan.
Honey Syrup
2/3 C. honey
1/3 C. sugar
3/4 C. water
Juice from 1 lemon
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, 3 inches long
Mix honey, sugar, water and spices in saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil.  Add lemon juice and cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat.  Remove from heat and cool completely.  Remove cloves and cinnamon before spooning over baklava.
You may increase or reduce the syrup based on your preferences.

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*To cut baklava into diamond shapes, cut straight lines across the 9” width of the pan.  Then cut diagonal lines from the end of one horizontal cut to the end of another on the opposite side of the pan going in a straight line.  Here is a link to a page that shows a slightly different cutting pattern, but it’s the same idea, and hopefully it will help.  If you don’t feel confident of this, just cut it in smallish squares. 
The diamond pattern tends to make some rather large pieces, so recently I’ve cut mine into triangles and squares instead.  If you do triangles try not to cut them too small as it can make them hard to handle when you remove them from the pan.

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Note: If you do not have whole cloves or cinnamon, you may put in ground.  The cloves would probably be about 1/4 tsp. and the cinnamon 2 tsp.  This is an estimate since I haven’t done this.  But, it will make your baklava darker.  The point in using it whole is to get the taste without the color.  It’s mostly an appearance thing, I think.
If you want to buy whole cloves or cinnamon but the price at your local grocery is prohibitive, I suggest checking out an Indian grocery store or food shop.  A lot of larger cities have them, and we have gotten whole cloves and cinnamon at such places for much better prices that can usually be found in regular grocery stores.  You may find other herbs and spices that you use cheaper there as well.  Also, if you have an electric coffee grinder, you can easily grind up the whole cloves or cinnamon into powder if you want to later.  Just be sure to clean the grinder well after using it for spices or herbs.  (My mom actually keeps two – one for coffee and one for herbs and such.  She watches for coffee grinders at second hand stores.)