Cookin' Up Some Chicken

Since we became chicken owners, every time I suggest preparing some chicken for dinner my children ask if we're going to kill and eat a particular bird. We have too many roosters. I know, they know, my wife knows it, but we haven't brought any of the roos to the table yet. It may be, in part, because the birds are more pets to my wife and daughters. Really, though, it has much more to do with the fact that I don't have an appropriately large pot in which to boil a bird I might terminate so that I can more easily pluck out the feathers. I'm definitely not in favor of pin feathers in my chicken skin, so boiling is a requirement to make the process of de-feathering more tolerable.

As a result of being properly equipped with a pot, I have continued to prepare chicken and my family continues to eat it. I'm pretty sure my eldest daughter counts the birds in our Chicken Tractor to make sure we're not eating Chris-Grey, the roo we need to get out of that yard.

My family's favorite preparation of chicken, it seems, it baked. Because it's such a success and so completely enjoyed every time, I wanted to share some of our favorite baked chicken flavors:

Rosemary and sage with a tiny bit of thyme mixed beforehand or directly sprinkled onto the skin before searing and baking was THE go-to combo for many months of chicken, which we consumed once every other week - or once a week when we were feeling more prosperous.

Parsley, oregano, and basil is another good trio of herbs to try out.

Butter. Just butter and salt is amazingly delicious in baking chicken AND turkey.

I made a dry rub for our chicken dinner last night that turned out really well and was very well received. The rub contained brown sugar, dry mustard, whole leaf dried thyme, oregano, cumin, real salt, and chili powder all to taste, really. My family doesn't do well with spicy concoctions, so the chili powder was added more for the complexity than the heat.

Eat Well,
J.G.