Culinary Skills: Roasting Chicken

This week we were practicing roasting and I obviously had roasted chicken a time or 2 in my life. The good thing is we paired up for this task and I was paired with someone who I work well with. She takes good direction and pulls her weight. She also will offer good insight occasionally even though she doesn't know alot about cooking.

We decided to keep the dishes simple but flavorful. The 3 dishes were: Herb Butter Roasted Chicken, Glazed Carrots, and Mashed Baked Potatoes. The chicken was the most elaborate dish. We fabricated and brined the chicken so it could soak while we mise en placed everything else. Also it was going to be quicker to roast them in pieces than as a whole. We made a compound butter with chopped herbs of Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary. Then we rubbed it under the skin and stuffed some thinly sliced Lemons inside for garnish and flavor. We also rubbed the butter over the skin as well.

The potatoes were awesome. We cooked them as mashed potatoes, but put cooked, crumbled bacon, chives, and butter in them. I thought the cheese and sour cream would be a bit much. What we made worked out just fine and looked nice in a bowl. They were stiff enough to plate the chicken resting up against it.

We could have made the carrot pieces larger. We cut rounds out of the carrots then, sliced them into 4ths. Yes, they were better this way for the "bit size" purposes, but the potatoes and large pieces of chicken dwarfed them in the plating. The flavor was right on with brown sugar and a pinch of cayenne working out perfect. We only made enough really to plate with the entree itself. Not enough to sit in its own bowl really.

The chicken came out flawless, literally. It was SOOO tasty. The only think I would have some different is if I had a mandolin, I could have sliced the lemons thinner.
Chef said I need to work on how the cut pieces of the chicken fit best together when plating, because I could have built it up a bit higher.