Roast Chicken

So, no we didn't make Fiesta Lime Chicken last night to go head to head with Applebee's. But we'll look at the cost of last night's meal too. We made Roast Split Chicken with Mustard Crust. A Jacques Pepin fast food meal. There are some things that are really fun to do in the kitchen. One is to purposely burn your food, like in this recipe (which I thought I blogged about, but must not have.) And another, is to split a chicken. Cris, you might want to stop reading... Here you get to cut, with scissors, the backbone right out of the chicken. Then with a big knife crack the sternum (from the inside) and press it down flat with your hands. Good old caveman fun!

TIP
There was a great tip in this recipe. You know how, when you roast a chicken, the whole thing is cooked except for that one joint in the thigh? This always happens. Then to cook that joint you probably over-roast the breast...drying it out. To overcome this obstacle, you just need to make an incision in the uncooked bird in that part of the thigh to allow the heat to get in. Genius!

Approximate Cost:
1 whole organic chicken from Russo's: $9.55, out of which we only ate half
Mustard Crust: ~$1.00
Salad: $2.00
2 pieces of bread: $1.00

HighDef Grand Total: $13.55
Applebee's Grand Total: $25.00

HighDef 2, Applebee's 0
HighDef is up $14.49

Mustard Crust

• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 chicken (about 31/2 pounds)
• Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

For the crust: Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut alongside the backbone of the chicken to split it open. Spread and press on the chicken with your hands to flatten it. Using a sharp paring knife, cut halfway through both sides of the joints connecting the thighs and drumsticks and cut through the joints of the shoulder under the wings as well. (This will help the heat penetrate these joints and accelerate the cooking process.)

Put the chicken skin side down on a cutting board and spread it with about half the mustard mixture. Place the chicken flat in a large skillet, mustard side down. Spread the remaining mustard on the skin side of the chicken. Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then place the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. It should be well browned and dark on top.

Let the chicken rest in the skillet at room temperature for a few minutes, then cut it into 8 pieces with clean kitchen shears. Defat the cooking juices. If you like, mound some Fluffy Mashed Potatoes on each of four warm dinner plates and place 2 pieces of chicken on each plate. Pour some juice on the mashed potatoes and chicken and serve.