One-Pot Wonders

Cardamom Brined Roast Chicken

by:
February  3, 2011
0
0 Ratings
Cardamom Brined Roast Chicken
  • Serves 1 chicken - wait, makes one chicken but serves several people!!!
Author Notes

Brining is a great way to ensure that your chicken is juicy and tender and full of flavor - so why not brine with some cardamom, right? I love roasting chickens! —aargersi

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Brine
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cardamom pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon white peppercorns
  • 1 turmeric root - cut into several pieces
  • 1 orange
  • 1 chicken - mine was 4 lbs, organic, free range, no hormones no antibiotics, often praised and encouraged and given a pink pedicure on Sundays. A happy chicken right up to that last day.
  • ice and water
  • Glaze For Roasting
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil plus some for your roasting pan
  • 1 teaspoon ground grains of paradise (sub pepper if you don't have these - but buy some soon!)
Directions
  1. Make the brine - gently crush the cardamom pods. Dry toast them in a warm skillet along with the peppercorns and cinnamon stick until they are just fragrant. Now put them in a pot large enough to accomodate your chicken, and add the salt, sugar, turmeric and orange, and 2 cups of water. Bring this to a boil, then simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. Now add 4 cups of ice and your chicken. If the chicken is not submerged, add water until he is. Put the lid on. Put him somewhere cold (the fridge, or the back porch if it's 25 @#^%$ degrees outside). Go to work or something and let him brine for several hours.
  2. Heat the oven to 350, and coat your roasting pan with oil. Take the chicken out of the brine, pat him (her?) dry and brush off and whole spices. Tuck his wings behind his head and put him in the pan. Combine the glaze ingredients - I warmed mine in the microwave for 30 seconds to get everything completely liquid and mixed. Brush half the glaze onto the chicken and pop him in the oven. After about 30 minutes, brush him with the remaining glaze. and back in the oven. Now ... I like to baste, so I do after about 15 more minutes, in fact I do it more than once. But you don't have to, you could just leave him alone until he is done. Mine took a little over an hour but this is going to depend on your chicken and your oven. If you adhere to safety first then a thermometer between the thigh and chicken should read 165. I usually just make sure the juices are running clear when I squirt them into the cavity and they flow back out, and the thigh feels loose when I wiggle the leg.
  3. Rest your chicken for about 10 minutes, then carve and dig in. Nannydebs cardamom sweet potatoes make an excellent accompaniment!!!
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Aliwaks
    Aliwaks
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • drbabs
    drbabs
  • mrslarkin
    mrslarkin
  • nannydeb
    nannydeb
aargersi

Recipe by: aargersi

Country living, garden to table cooking, recent beek, rescue all of the dogs, #adoptdontshop

Popular on Food52

14 Reviews

GOLSPICE
GOLSPICE February 14, 2012
I used chicken cut in eights and used only the seeds from the cardamon and not the pod itself (no flavor in pod). The flavor was wonderful and even better as leftover. Next time i'll put the brine spices in an herb bag so it'll be easier to remove the pieces from the chicken before roasting.
This recipee is a keper.
 
Stockout
Stockout February 6, 2011
I see you are a mean chicken roaster yourself. We should write cookbooks called "The East Coaster Roaster " or "The BIG Texas Roaster Boaster" since we both love roasted hens.
 
aargersi
aargersi February 6, 2011
:-) Yes! Love those chickens - I roast one at least once a week in the winter - in summer it is too hot here to turn on the oven!!!
 
Aliwaks
Aliwaks February 3, 2011
I feel a desperate need to bite into that chicken!
 
aargersi
aargersi February 3, 2011
trade ya - a chicken for some magical dates!
 
Aliwaks
Aliwaks February 3, 2011
DONE! They would be a pretty good combo.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames February 3, 2011
Wow, this looks good. How large a piece of turmeric root do you use? I just happen to have a couple pieces in my fridge . . . . and I really want to make this!! ;o)
 
aargersi
aargersi February 3, 2011
Mine was about as big as my thumb. I have freakishly large hands ... :-)
 
drbabs
drbabs February 3, 2011
really great--so it's cold in Austin?
 
aargersi
aargersi February 3, 2011
24 degrees right now! And SNOW here and there - it is unheard of! Good chicken roasting weather ...
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin February 3, 2011
Woo! That's one rediculicious looking chicken!
 
aargersi
aargersi February 3, 2011
She's a fatty isn't she?
 
nannydeb
nannydeb February 3, 2011
Hey, thanks for the shout out aargersi! That is the fattest chicken I've ever seen! Looks scrumptious!
 
aargersi
aargersi February 3, 2011
She was a chunker! Your potatoes are awesome!