Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary Whole Chicken (Instant Pot)

Whenever I spoke to friends/relatives/co-workers about cooking the last few years, I would hear so much about how they fell in love with their IP and why they couldn’t stop using their IP.  Cooking with an IP is currently very popular, but what is an IP?  IP stands for Instant Pot which is a multifunctional electric pressure cooker.  According to The New York Times, Instant Pots currently sit in the top 10 list of Amazon best sellers in the Kitchen category.  I’ve owned one for more than a year now and I understand why people love it so much.  You can easily convert many recipes for pressure cooking.

I normally cook this chicken in a Dutch Oven with potatoes and carrots added to the pot (Dutch Oven chicken recipe will follow).  Cooking this chicken in a Dutch Oven or in a pressure cooker keeps the chicken moist and tender.  When I don’t have much time preparing dinner, I just bring out my IP.

Ingredients:

1 (4 pounds)	Whole roasting chicken
2 Tbsp	Butter (melted)
2 Tbsp	Lemon zest
2 Tbsp	Rosemary (chopped)
3 Tbsp	Minced Garlic
3 tsp	Salt
a dash	Cooking wine (optional)

Spices for Chicken Skin:

1 tsp	Chili powder
2 tsp	Paprika
2 tsp	Garlic powder
1 tsp	Salt

Ingredients for gravy:

1 cup	Low sodium chicken broth (cooking together with the chicken in Instant Pot)
2 Tbsp	Corn starch
1-2 Tbsp	water

Chicken Marinade:

1. Clean the chicken and pat dry.
2. Melt butter in a microwave and prepare all herbs.  (picture A)
3. Use a chopper to chop garlic, rosemary and lemon zest together.  (picture B)
4. In a container, mix butter, salt and herb mixture.  (picture C)
5. Rub herb mixture evenly underneath the chicken skin and cavity.  (picture D)
6. Cover with cling wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight (you can skip this step if you don’t have time).

Direction:

1. Combine all spices for chicken skin in a bowl.  (Pictures 1 & 2)
2. Sprinkle the skin evenly with the spice mixture.  (Picture 3)
3. In a large frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil with a sprig of rosemary.  Cook the chicken until evenly golden brown, add in cooking wine (optional).  (Picture 4)
4. Pour 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth (or water) to your Instant Pot (pressure cooker), place the metal trivet into the pot.  Gently place chicken on top of the trivet with tongs.  (Pictures 5 & 6)
5. Select manual setting, adjust pressure to high and set time for 20 minutes.  Turn knob to the sealing position.  When finished cooking, do a quick pressure release.  (Picture 7)

To make gravy:

1. Reserve all the juice from the pot and skim the fat from the top. Transfer gravy from Instant Pot to a small pot.
2. Place the pot on stove top on medium heat.  Dissolve 2 Tbsps of cornstarch in the minimum amount of water needed to make a thin paste.
3. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pot and use a spoon or whisk to mix (don’t pour in all cornstarch slurry, if gravy is still thin, add more in until it’s slightly thickened.)
4. Transfer gravy to a sauce boat and serve hot.

 

Rosemary, Roasted Garlic and Lemon No-Knead Bread in Dutch Oven

Over-kneaded dough tends to turn the loaves tough and chewy, and under kneaded-dough will make the loaves flat and dense in texture.  To get a loaf of light and fluffy bread, practice is important.  Of course if you use a bread machine to knead your dough, you will never over knead it.   Baking bread is really all about technique, I neither practiced nor read enough.  So I chose the no-knead version.  Is this cheating?  Not really, it’s just another way to make your bread and it’s effortless :-).  All you need to do is to plan ahead of time as this bread needs at least 12-18 hours to rise.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma.

Ingreditents:

3 cups ¼ teaspoon 1¾ teaspoons 2 teaspoons 6 cloves 2 teaspoons Cornmeal as needed

All-purpose flour Active dry yeast Salt Chopped fresh rosemary Roasted garlic (roughly chopped) Chopped lemon zest

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, rosemary, roasted garlic and lemon zest.  Add 1 5/8 cups water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and very sticky.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rest at warm room temperature (about 70°F) until the surface is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and fold the dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball.  Generously coat a cotton towel, preferably a flour sack towel (not terry cloth), with cornmeal. Put the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise until the dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.
4. At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, put a 2 3/4-quart cast-iron pot in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.
5. Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over, seam side up, into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the loaf is browned, 15 to 30 minutes more.
6. Transfer the pot to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.  Using oven mitts, turn the pot on its side and gently turn the bread; it will release easily. Makes one 1 1/2-lb. loaf.