Here is a great recipe
for baked chicken from Leo Ross. Leo has found his piece of Paradise on
the Azuero peninsula, and like many of us old timers, tries to get the
biggest bang for his buck. To make a short story shorter, I tried Leo's
recipe and it was delicious, producing a perfectly done, juicy and
tasty baked chicken. Here's Leo's recipe.
Mix about a half cup of salt and
two large spoonfuls of sugar in about a gallon of cold water. Wash the
chicken well then submerge in the salt solution, refrigerated at least
overnight, better if you can leave it for an entire day and night.
Remove it from the solution and toss that stuff down the drain.
Rinse the chicken briefly then arrange on a roasting pan exactly as you
would a turkey. Roast in a moderately hot oven and with a thermometer
in the breast, remove at 170F. If you don't have a thermometer, remove
when you can grasp one of the drumsticks and it moves freely in the
thigh joint, or poke a knife into a thigh and check that the juices run
clear, or if nothing else, remove a thigh and see if there is any pink
in the joint itself. (a very slight pink is normal due to the saline
solution though so remember if cooking with a thermometer, trust it)
If the skin starts to brown too much during cooking, just cover with aluminum foil.
Amazingly, the brining adds a lot of juiciness and a nice flavor and roast chicken takes on a new meaning.
Many thanks, Leo.
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