I was online shopping for groceries last week for soup ingredients and I decided to order a whole chicken – a part of it for a chicken soup and roast the legs on a separate night. There are plenty of informative (albeit lame) videos on youtube, and I learnt how to butterfly a chicken by watching this.

I got the liberty to work from my own home since I would rather not show my puffy face post widom teeth extraction, so I can have the stove happening while I tap away on my computer. Here are my two recipes for the one chicken to prepare on two different days:

Baked Chicken Legs

I detached the legs (thigh and drumstick) and left it in a marinade for 6+ hours. Be creative! I added:
Honey
Lo Sui sauce
Sesame Oil
Pinch of Chinese 5 spice powder
Pinch of Japanese 7 spice (spicy powder)
Dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for half a day… or overnight.

Place the chicken legs in a baking tray. I like to fold a shallow “bowl” with baking paper so that all the juices are caught and the surface is non-stick (unlike foil). Plus it makes washing up minimal! Scatter sliced onions around the chicken legs, pour a small amount of chicken broth on top along with a dash of white wine, and add remaining marinade leftover in the bowl into the baking tray. Sprinkle some dried oregano on top and bake for 45 mins on 190°C or until chicken is golden brown and its juices run clear.

There shouldn’t be a need for basting, as there are enough juices in your baking “tray” to keep it moist. The onions should be nicely caramelized. I like to brush the chicken skin with a layer of honey when it’s finished, and put it back under the grill for an extra five minutes, just to get the extra gloss.

It’s perfect, and it’s so simple.

With the rest of the chicken, add to a soup pot, and chop up any vegetables you like. I used:
2 carrots
1 zucchinni
1 brown onion
half a can of diced tomatos
3 sticks of celery
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tiny clove, pushed inside chicken flesh

Cover all ingredients with half chicken broth, half water

Bring to a slow gentle boil, and simmer on low heat for 4-5 hours. It’s very hard to get this wrong. The reason why I cut my vegetables into such big pieces was so that it would be easily to remove after cooking, if you are looking to make a clear chicken & vegetable broth. Take chicken out of soup when done, and shred chicken meat into the strained broth.

If you chicken is slow cooked with cold water to begin with, the meat should be moist and smooth, not dry and stringy.

Enjoy the cooler seasons

Like my post? Spread it like butter!