Week 43: 

RECIPE OF THE WEEK SHARED BY DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITIONS & PROGRAMMING, JOANNE INGERSOLL

Roasting a chicken in a bag has been a standby in my household for years. Because I have family members with multiple food allergies and cooking with many of my favorite ingredients cannot be included, this method has several benefits.

First, there is no need for basting or tending to the bird while in the oven, leaving you time to do other things (like laundry, or help kids with homework). Second, the bag seals the herb and lemon flavors so every mouthful is moist and delicious that there is no need for gravy, a good thing when gluten allergies abound. Third, containing the bird and drippings in the bag makes for a very fast and easy cleanup.

My chicken was 2.7 lbs and it roasted for about 55 minutes (it’s a good idea to use a meat thermometer). I served the chicken with spinach and potatoes. The meat was delicious! It is not a method to use if you love crispy skin, this is really all about the meat and savory flavors melding the herbs and whatever else one may want to use. I imagine if you can have garlic or wine, or butter it would make the chicken sensational!

Chicken in a Bag

Real-Time Weeknight Roast Chicken: When you don’t have a lot of time, but you do have a family to feed.

Ingredients

• Small to medium whole chicken, washed and dry
• Seasonings (your choice) last night I used ½ t salt, 1 t pepper, 1 T dried rosemary. Better If you have fresh herbs, but I don’t overwinter rosemary so I used dry
• ½ lemon
• ½ onion
• 2 celery sticks, chopped in half
• ¼ t olive oil
• 1 medium parchment bag

Instructions

1. Mix seasoning in a small bowl, add olive oil to moisten
2. Rub seasoning on chicken, rub some under skin
3. Fill chicken cavity with celery sticks, quartered onion, squeeze lemon, and leave lemon rind
4. Place chicken in bag, with seam side up
5. Fold closure over many times to “seal”
6. Place in shallow roasting pan or cookie sheet
7. Put in preheated oven 360 degrees (calculate time based on size of chicken)
8. My chicken was 2.7lbs and it roasted for about 55 minutes – best to use meat thermometer
9. When you remove from oven leave it alone in the bag for 10 minutes.

Notes

Reserve your drippings for gravy if you wish. You may find it is not necessary especially if you are watching fat and calories.