April 19th, 2011: Whole Roasted Chicken with Chicken Liver Pate

Ah. The brining of the chicken. Something that I now believe to be %100 necessary when cooking poultry, thank you Alton Brown. I told my mom about it and she asked me "doesn't brining it just make it taste really salty?" to which I responded "no, it gives it flavor and prevents it from drying out. So, this chicken won't be dried out like the turkey you serve everything thanks- damnit, never mind that." We bickered a little and she told me to get back to my chicken. I forgot about the giblets inside the chicken, part of me didn't even think I'd get any. I brined the chicken with the bag of nasty stuff still inside of it. So, I removed it. I then rubbed the chicken down with thyme and olive oil to add just a little more flavor and get the skin to crisp up.

That was it, I was done messing with the chicken. I tucked its arms and legs in and popped it in the oven at 220f. I threw away the neck, heart and another unidentifiable part of the chicken and reserved what I thought was the liver, oddly, it was like they included two livers. So I fried those up in browned butter and then pureed them in Brandy, added salt and pepper and was done. All that was left was waiting for the chicken to cook and watch the crazy storms going on that night. If I weren't from the Midwest, I probably would have thought the world was ending.

So, the chicken's ready, Blair's home from work and I realize... "I'm a house wife!" Blair goes out and works while I make food, clean and take care of the rabbit. But, I cook delicious food. The chicken was tender as hell and had a somewhat smokey taste to it. The chicken just fell apart, like well braised/smoked pork, when I pulled the drumstick off, most of the meat stayed on the chicken without the bone. Awesome! The pate was kind of gross. It didn't taste bad, I just couldn't get past what it was. I guess the rich eat disgustingly. Ah, well.