Lemon Rosemary Brined Chicken

  • Cosmicmother 8 years ago
    Lemon Rosemary Brined Roast Chicken by Chuckieb

    This is absolutely delish! Super moist and juicy!! I often use a simple salt brine, but the peppercorns, garlic, rosemary and lemon slices put this over the top! The whole family loved it and we will for sure use this recipe again and again!

    I followed the recipe exactly except I added some potatoes to the last hour of cooking. I tossed the potatoes with a little olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. And tossed them halfway through cooking as well as basting the chicken with the pan juices.

    For the lemon pepper called for in the recipe I made Otterpond's Lemon Pepper Seasoning It's super easy to make and tastes fresher than the store bought. I'll definitely use this again when a recipe calls for it!
    Flag
  • frankieanne 8 years ago said:
    That is a beautifully roasted chicken! Excellent idea to add the potatoes, too. I've used a brine before and it does really seem like the chicken ends up being more moist than usual. I've never used a brine with honey in it though and I love that idea! I guess I've never thought about making lemon pepper seasoning! Thank you for pointing that one out.
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    What temperature did you use for the first 15 minutes of bake time?
    NEVERMIND-----------------------I found it.
    Flag
  • mommyluvs2cook 8 years ago said:
    This looks so good Shona and Janet!! I have never brined ANYTHING so I need to start somewhere and this sounds perfect. I am going to try this next week, but I just need the pickling salt. Guess that's pretty much in every grocery store? Beautiful picture!!
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    A long way around to getting to this recipe but I've got the lemon peels drying. Took a dozen lemons to make 2 cups juice for some lemonade in a couple of days. Used all those lemon rinds to make a bunch of zest. And some homemade ginger ale is on the ticket too. Humidity is way up so it might take a few days for the lemon zest to get dry enough to run in the spice grinder.
    Flag
  • chuckieb 8 years ago said:
    What a beautiful picture you took Shona! Your chicken looks marvelous! Love your idea of adding those potatoes. They sound delicious. I too want to try Laura's Lemon Pepper seasoning.
    I was a bit worried about the honey in the brine mixture FA, as my hubby doesn't like 'sweet' with 'meat', but it's a small enough amount that it's not really noticeable. If you did want a more pronounced honey flavour you'd have to add a substantial amount more I'd think.
    I had never brined anything up until a couple of years ago myself Michelle. You must try it. It's a very yummy method. Yes, you can get pickling salt in every grocery store.
    Very cool on the homemade ginger ale Points. My parents used to make homemade Root Beer back when I was a kid, but I've never heard on anyone making ginger ale. Do let us know how it goes.
    Flag
  • Cosmicmother 8 years ago said:
    Thanks :) I was going to take a nice photo on a platter but everyone was hovering in the kitchen as they were hungry, lol ;)

    This would be good with turkey too! If I did a big turkey I'd probably get one of those brining bags and stick in our big cooler with ice! The chicken I got was about 2- 3 pounds, it fit in my large stainless steel stock pot.

    You should try brining Michele, I often do it with chicken pieces too, they don't need as much time to brine either. It prevents the chicken from drying out, so it's good if your grilling too! Kosher salt works instead of pickling salt. A lot of older recipes use pickling salt because many people would not refrigerate their birds in the brine, so the pickling salt acts as a preservative. Here's a good read about brining, it also has a chart on brining times as it varies from a whole bird to pieces and for boneless breasts it only takes an hour to brine! here's the link: http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokin-Okies-101-Series/Brining-101

    Points, I've seen ways to dry lemon peels/zest on-line, in the microwave or oven. Might be worth looking into if yours takes too long to dry out? I've heard of just putting it on a foil lined sheet in the oven with just the oven light on. Might work over-night!
    Flag
  • frankieanne 8 years ago said:
    You certainly have a lot of kitchen tips, CM. :-)
    Flag
  • mommyluvs2cook 8 years ago said:
    I'll check out that link Shona, thanks for the advice!
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    Chicken is cooling its heels in the brine solution. That large ice cream container fits it all perfectly. I'm ashamed to admit I have several of those containers. We'll have the clucker tomorrow for lunch, with potatoes too.
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    Yummy, yummy, yummy, into my tummy.
    Very moist with lots of flavors.
    Made potatoes too with a tofu salad dip by Jo_jo_ba.
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    Very moist a day after. Great nuked. Still flavorful.
    Flag
  • frankieanne 8 years ago said:
    Sounds like this is a good one!
    Flag
  • chuckieb 8 years ago said:
    :)
    Flag
  • Cosmicmother 8 years ago said:
    Pete came home with a chicken last night so I would make this again! I sent him to the store to get milk and bread, he's never bought meat before without me asking him! He's says "you should really make that chicken we had last time" lol! So in the brine it went and we're having this again tonight! Yum! A winner recipe for sure! :)
    Flag
  • mommyluvs2cook 8 years ago said:
    I can't wait to make this!
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    Did some research on adding honey or sugar to the brine solution. It's not so much for making the meat sweet but instead to aid in the browning.
    Flag
  • pointsevenout 8 years ago said:
    Made this recipe again using BS breast fillets. They were ginormous @ 3 of them for almost 4lbs.
    Soaked in the brine for 2hrs. The bake time is a little long. Probably could dial it back to 45 minutes after the 15 minute initial bake time.
    Flag
  • mommyluvs2cook 8 years ago said:
    This has got to be the moistest chicken I have ever had! Sooo good! I did have to add a little more water to the brine to get it to cover my humungo chicken. The salt level on this is spot on. I didn't make my own lemon pepper, but TJ's lemon pepper grinder worked it's magic :) Can't wait to make this again!!
    6/22/15
    Flag
  • chuckieb 8 years ago said:
    So pleased everyone's enjoying this. Now I'm craving it again. :)
    Flag

Have a comment? Join this group first →