Roast Chicken with Herbs

Every once in a while you have to improvise a recipe, and it turns out so amazing you're not sure if you want to make it the "right" way or not. This is one of those times. Originally, this recipe was for Cornish hens, but I was not very smart and forgot to buy them ahead of time. When I found myself at the grocery store on Christmas Eve, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to win. And while technically that is true since they had long since been sold out of Cornish hens, they did have whole chickens in stock, and this was an amazing recipe!

Lest I sound like I blowing my own horn too much, I should point out that this is not my recipe. It comes from Recipezazz.com. The only substantial change I made was to use a whole chicken, and then of course I had to adjust the roasting time since it was considerably larger.

Simple enough ingredients, no? You can use dried herbs or fresh, but I wanted fresh. As it turns out my experiment of bringing my pots of herbs inside for the winter from my back porch did not go well, so I had to buy some. The store was out of tarragon, though, so I had to use dried. It happens.

Anyway, chicken, fresh herbs, lemon, garlic, and olive oil form the main part of the recipe. The soy sauce (I always use Maggi seasoning in place of soy sauce), Worcestershire sauce, and chicken broth come in much later.

The instructions say to place the hens on a baking sheet covered with parchment. I used a 9x13-inch pan covered with grilling (nonstick) aluminum foil because I was worried the pan drippings would be too deep for a baking sheet to hold. However you do it, fill the cavity with lemon wedges and peeled garlic cloves. I improvised on amounts, but for a whole chicken a single lemon cut into 6 wedges and 6 small garlic cloves seemed about perfect. If you're using Cornish hens, the recipe says to place 2 lemon wedges and 2 garlic cloves in each one.

In a small bowl, combine your chopped herbs, some garlic, some olive oil, and some salt and pepper so they form almost a paste. The recipe calls for smashing the garlic, but apparently I am inept at smashing and should have minced it instead. Not that it wasn't good, but it wasn't really incorporated into the entire herb mixture.

Separate the skin from the meat over the breast and thighs of the chicken, and spread the herb mixture mostly over the meat, but also a little over top of the skin. The only way to do this effectively is to get your hands into it and push it in with your fingers. I found the extra flaps of skin at the cavity opening to be perfect for wiping the herbs off that stuck to my fingers. I then folded the flaps of skin together to mostly close the cavity over the lemon and garlic.

I honestly didn't pay attention to exactly how long I roasted the chicken. I do know I adjusted the oven racks and put it on the bottom rack because I needed the upper one for other things, and I covered it with foil for the first hour so it wouldn't get too crispy. I also basted periodically, which I think amounted to about 5 times. I think it was in the oven for about 2 1/2, maybe 3 hours, then I let it rest for 15-20 minutes before I carved it, with the foil tented loosely over the top.

While the chicken is resting, you combine most of the pan drippings (the recipe says to pour them into a measuring cup and then skim off the fat, but I just used my baster to suck them out of the pan and put them directly into my saucepan) with the remaining ingredients, a little bit of butter, and some flour. The sauce should be slightly thick, but not so thick it becomes jelled.

This is another place where I veered off from the recipe. It says to serve the Cornish hens with the sauce on the side, but since I had a whole chicken I just cut into it to expose more of the meat, then spooned the sauce over top of the whole thing. I tasted the chicken before I added the sauce and it was excellent. I tasted the chicken with the sauce and it was out of this world!

Cornish Hens with Herbs

Serves 8

16 garlic cloves (peeled)
16 lemon wedges
8 pounds Cornish hens (about 8 one pound hens)
2 tablespoons oil (olive oil)
3 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage (or 1 teaspoon dried sage)
2 tablespoons chopped tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups chicken low-sodium broth (fat-free)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon margarine (soft non-hydrogenated margarine) 

*The nutrition information on the recipe link is NOT correct! This is the correct N.I. according to the USDA for the recipe as written. It does not reflect the changes I made.

Serving Size: 212g

Calories: 318

Calories from fat: 194

Total Fat: 21.5g

Saturated Fat: 5.4g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 115mg

Sodium: 838mg

Total Carbohydrates: 8.0g

Dietary Fiber: 1.5g

Sugars: 1.4g

Protein: 21.5g

Again, not my recipe. This was posted at Recipezazz.com.