Thursday, February 24, 2011

Good cheap food: Baked Chicken

I found organic, free ranged chicken for .99 cents at my local grocer the other day. I bought two of them and this is what I did with one of them...

Before and after


Ingredients:

1 chicken (doesn’t have to be organic or free ranged) about 3 to 4 lbs.
¼ cup kosher salt
3 potatoes
1 eggplant
3 carrots
1 lemon
a little season all

Recipe:

1. The night before the meal, make a brine solution and marinate the chicken in it. All you need to do is fill a large pot with water and the kosher salt and bring it to a boil. Let the solution cool down to room temperature and put the chicken in the pot and the pot in the refrigerator.

2. The next day, chop up the potatoes, eggplant, and carrots and throw them into a pyrex or some kind of cooking pan.

3. Take the chicken out of the solution. Pat it dry with a (clean) towel or paper towel. Rub some seasoning all over it (there are a lot of seasonings and rubs out there... I use this McCormick’s Chicken Rub).

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the chicken breast side up and bake for about 50 minutes then turn it over for another 20 minutes back side up.

5. When the chicken looks nice and golden brown, it should be ready. Take it out gently, carve it up however you like and add any sides you like. I side of rice and salad is perfect for me.

Summary:
My chicken ended up costing a little under 4 dollars and I think with the ingredients and sides this meal cost about 6 or 7 dollars total. It ended up being enough for four meals (served two people for dinner and was enough for two lunches the next day).