I'd worry about the food safety aspect, specifically that you're not killing off the microbes with the first browning of the chicken, giving them a chance to multiply during the cooling-off period in the fridge. (It's not worth going through food poisoning in the name of convenience, based on recent experience). Spatchcocked chicken cooks quickly; I think I'd skip the pre-browning and braise-roast when you get home, allowing the heat of the oven to brown it, or choose a stewed-or braised-chicken or meat preparation that you can cook in advance the day before and reheat before serving. Actually if it were me, I'd follow the recipe as written but fully cook it earlier in the day or a day ahead and then reheat it; the liquid it's cooked in keeps it moist and it will still be good; I do this all the time.
Here's what I'd do: Pick a small chicken at the market. Get step 3 done ahead (sans lemon slices and just using a tablespoon and a half of butter/oil mix). Cool and refrigerate. Have the chicken butterflied ahead. While the chicken is browning, bring the broth mixture to a simmer. Proceed with recipe. If the broth mixture is good and hot when it's added to the chicken, it should help the chicken cook a bit more rapidly. Serve a soup or salad course as soon as you pull the chicken from the oven to rest.
No, this would not be safe at all. I'm not familiar with the recipe, but as a guess, to save time you should skip the browning part and start roasting as soon as you get home. However, if you are cooking the meat straight out of the fridge, it is important to ensure the chicken's internal temperature is high enough before serving; this is why it's usually advised to allow food to warm slightly at room temperature before cooking. Hope that is helpful and good luck!
Basically, when you are cooking meat, poultry, fish, etc. you are trying to get the internal temperature to reach a certain point, namely 165 deg. F for chicken. If you shove your browned chicken back in the fridge to let it cool down, it has that much farther to go to reach 165 degrees.
If you describe your situation in detail, commenters here may be better able to offer suggestions on how to approach this dish for your special circumstances.
It's a weird situation, where I am attending an event and then arriving back home along with my dinner guests (two of whom are elderly), so I want to have the dinner as prepped as possible ahead of time, so it won't take an hour and a half to get it on the table. But I was worried about the browning/refrigeration/reheating of the poultry for safety reasons.
Now understanding the particular situation, I suggest you find a different dish for this occasion. Even if you have a freshly browned (and thus partly warmed) chicken, the braising part still takes up to 50 minutes, plus 10 minutes of resting time. That's an hour right there just if the recipe instructions are followed normally.
This chicken recipe is not ideal for someone who wants to get something to get something on the table quickly and after an absence from the kitchen where nothing can get done.
I would find another chicken dish (soup/stew/other braise) that you can cook to its entirety and then simply reheat.
If you have an oven with a timer that starts/stops, you can likely work the recipe to have the timing work. I would thing you could brown it, then put it back in the fridge, and then cook it later but not sure how much time you would be saving. Whats the nature of the timing issue?
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Basically, when you are cooking meat, poultry, fish, etc. you are trying to get the internal temperature to reach a certain point, namely 165 deg. F for chicken. If you shove your browned chicken back in the fridge to let it cool down, it has that much farther to go to reach 165 degrees.
If you describe your situation in detail, commenters here may be better able to offer suggestions on how to approach this dish for your special circumstances.
This chicken recipe is not ideal for someone who wants to get something to get something on the table quickly and after an absence from the kitchen where nothing can get done.
I would find another chicken dish (soup/stew/other braise) that you can cook to its entirety and then simply reheat.
Good luck.