Flat brined roast chicken with lemon and herbs

Name: Flat brined roast chicken with lemon and herbs
Total time: 6000 s
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 chicken skinned and cut in half; 1/2 cup salt; 1/2 cup sugar; 12 cups water; 3 large lemons; 1 tsp. mustard; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 tsp. fresh rosemary chopped finely; 1/2 tsp salt flakes; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp butter

Becky @beckyr

Alicante, Spain

I saw this recipe in Spanish Cookpad last week and was intrigued by the brining thing as I often roast chicken (who doesn't??!!), but have never tried brining it first. Apparantly it makes the meat much jucier so I thought I'd give it a try. This brine only uses water, salt and sugar so it was super easy and it certainly made a difference to the meat which was very moist and tender despite having no skin. I used an organic chicken and asked the butcher to skin it and make the cut down the middle for me. I was tempted to add some minced garlic to the herby paste, but I'm glad I didn't actually because the herbs and lemon juice and zest gave the chicken - and my kitchen - quite enough tang and flavour. I'll definitely try brining again and will probably add other ingredients to the brine too. Perhaps a quartered apple and a couple of cloves to pork, anise seed and a piece of ginger to beef.... Look forward to some brine experiments in the near future :-)

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Ingredients

100 mins

4 servings

1chicken skinned and cut in half
1/2 cupsalt
1/2 cupsugar
12 cupswater
3large lemons
1 tsp.mustard
1 tspfreshly ground black pepper
1 tsp.fresh rosemary chopped finely
1/2 tspsalt flakes
1 tbspolive oil
1 tbspbutter

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Steps

100 mins

1

Put the water, salt and sugar into a large pan
2

Stir for a while until the salt and sugar dissolve
3

And the water is clear again
4

Submerge the chicken in the pan, put the lid on and store in the fridge for an hour.
5

Wash and chop the herbs and grate the zest of two large lemons. Give them a good scrub beforehand if they aren't organic. Add the mustard, oil, pepper, juice of half a lemon and salt and mix well
6

After an hour take the chicken out and put it on a board covered with kitchen paper. Dry it. Start to pre-heat the oven to 250°
7

With a sharp knife carefully make some cuts in the chicken
8

Fill the spaces with the herby paste and put the chicken on a lined baking tray or roasting dish and place it in the oven
9

Put the butter and the grated zest and juice of one lemon in a small pan. Heat gently until the butter has melted
10

After 10 minutes take the chicken out. Turn the oven down to 200°. Baste the chicken with the melted butter and lemon
11

Baste underneath too
12

Leave for about 40 minutes taking it out once or twice to baste with the juices
13

When it is cooked, leave to rest on a plate while you prepare a salad or some steamed veg
14

Serve and enjoy. The meat should be tasty and moist. I will definitely brine again - it makes a real difference.
15

Have a nice tasty week all 😊☺

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Becky @beckyr

on June 06, 2016 05:08

Alicante, Spain

Born in the UK, I came to Spain after graduating many moons and meals ago, and I'm still here. For me cooking is a great way to unwind at the end of the day. My recipes tend to be quite quick and simple and (mostly!!) healthy too. Also quite seasonal - I prefer buying fresh local produce as much as possible. When I have time, I love spending a few hours cooking, filling my kitchen with delicious smells and great music and then hosting family and friends for long happy meals, laughs, conversation and chilled white wine. I'm a great believer in the power and value of home cooking for our own health, happiness and wellbeing and those of our loved ones and since I joined the Cookpad team 11 years ago I am committed to helping to make everyday cooking more fun for people all over the World. You can see more recipes (in Spanish) on my Cookpad Spain profile here: https://cookpad.wasmer.app/eng/users/1089227