Heston's Roast Chicken - brilliant!
Discussion
Tried the roast chicken prep from Heston's current series on Saturday. It was knockout, by far the best roast chicken I've had - so moist, and flavoursome; highly recommended! The chicken is so tasty I wouldn't overfill the plate with all the usual roast accompaniments or smother in gravy, in fact this would be stunning in a salad. I just served with roast potatoes & carrots....
Output Flange said:
Is this the recipe where you cook it at 80C for a few hours? My OH tried that a few weekends ago using the recipe and timings in his Heston At Home book, and served a lovely raw chicken.
90c for 2 hours, checked with a thermometer it was just under 70C in the thickest part. Done!zac510 said:
Is that all you do? No special preparation or a water tray for moisture?
He brined it (among other things):http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/heston...
Brine for 24hrs
Remove all trussing
Stuff with a whole Lemon & Thyme
Baste in butter then
Nominally 90m @ 90C, but you need to check temp thickest part by poking an electronic thermometer into it. He says 60C, health guidelines say 75C. I ate @ just under 70C
Once cooked rest for 45mins
Baste with butter & cook @ maximum for 10mins, this will give lovely crispy skin & warms it through for serving
NomNom goodness!
Remove all trussing
Stuff with a whole Lemon & Thyme
Baste in butter then
Nominally 90m @ 90C, but you need to check temp thickest part by poking an electronic thermometer into it. He says 60C, health guidelines say 75C. I ate @ just under 70C
Once cooked rest for 45mins
Baste with butter & cook @ maximum for 10mins, this will give lovely crispy skin & warms it through for serving
NomNom goodness!
Tried a few of the cooking methods from Hestons programme. Have always watched cooking programmes but never really wanted to replicate them till Heston's.
So far have done the following.
Triple cooked chips. Just finished them off a few mins ago.verdict from the little Rex's and Mrs Rex was that they are the best chips they have ever had.
Last night was the chicken and ham pie. The stock a la Heston was made and frozen last week. Had to use cornflower as could not get hold of agar agar and the verdict on this one. Simply amazing. By far the tastiest pie I have ever eaten. All the flavours came through and the mustard, which I am not normally a fan of, blended perfectly.
Did the slow and low chicken on Saturday and as posted above, it was the most tender moist chicken I have ever had.
My first attempt was the chili con carne. I know it's boring now but the depth of flavour was amazing. Never tasted a chilli like it.
Only 2 problems so far. Everything takes bloody ages and Mrs Rex hates when I get every item out from the drawers and they all seem to get used. Will have to reserve a lot of the meals to the weekend.
So far have done the following.
Triple cooked chips. Just finished them off a few mins ago.verdict from the little Rex's and Mrs Rex was that they are the best chips they have ever had.
Last night was the chicken and ham pie. The stock a la Heston was made and frozen last week. Had to use cornflower as could not get hold of agar agar and the verdict on this one. Simply amazing. By far the tastiest pie I have ever eaten. All the flavours came through and the mustard, which I am not normally a fan of, blended perfectly.
Did the slow and low chicken on Saturday and as posted above, it was the most tender moist chicken I have ever had.
My first attempt was the chili con carne. I know it's boring now but the depth of flavour was amazing. Never tasted a chilli like it.
Only 2 problems so far. Everything takes bloody ages and Mrs Rex hates when I get every item out from the drawers and they all seem to get used. Will have to reserve a lot of the meals to the weekend.
I made a batch of chicken stock yesterday using the Heston wings/milk powder/pressure cooker approach and it is good stock but the problem is you need to spend a good hour starting it off, which is 50 minutes more than it usually takes me to get it going.
However, the whole process takes about 3 hours, compared to leaving the stock pot on simmer for a day and then another few hours of reduction, so I suppose it saves a lot of time (and condensation on the windows) overall.
Will be trying the consomme tomorrow and roast chicken method this weekend probably.
I've been reading bits of the Fat Duck Cookbook recently and I have to say he is an inspiration when it comes to cooking but I just can't figure out how he's managed to cram all that cooking R&D into the time he's had on earth.
However, the whole process takes about 3 hours, compared to leaving the stock pot on simmer for a day and then another few hours of reduction, so I suppose it saves a lot of time (and condensation on the windows) overall.
Will be trying the consomme tomorrow and roast chicken method this weekend probably.
I've been reading bits of the Fat Duck Cookbook recently and I have to say he is an inspiration when it comes to cooking but I just can't figure out how he's managed to cram all that cooking R&D into the time he's had on earth.
trackdemon said:
Tried the roast chicken prep from Heston's current series on Saturday. It was knockout, by far the best roast chicken I've had - so moist, and flavoursome; highly recommended! The chicken is so tasty I wouldn't overfill the plate with all the usual roast accompaniments or smother in gravy, in fact this would be stunning in a salad. I just served with roast potatoes & carrots....
Hi Steve. I am in our local next week (i think?) bring some chicken for the long walk home you have.
Hope you are well mate.
Rod.
ks! every time I try I end up with hard boiled eggs 
RodMod said:
trackdemon said:
Tried the roast chicken prep from Heston's current series on Saturday. It was knockout, by far the best roast chicken I've had - so moist, and flavoursome; highly recommended! The chicken is so tasty I wouldn't overfill the plate with all the usual roast accompaniments or smother in gravy, in fact this would be stunning in a salad. I just served with roast potatoes & carrots....
Hi Steve. I am in our local next week (i think?) bring some chicken for the long walk home you have.
Hope you are well mate.
Rod.
Think I'll manage the 45secs it takes to walk to the pub! Probably there Friday mate (as always!)Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff