When I was a kid, just out of the house, one of my "go to" meals for entertaining was Cornish Game Hens or Chicken, stuffed with Rice A Roni long grain & wild rice pilaf. Nowadays, I make my own pilaf, and it is still a good dish for when you want something that looks more impressive than it is difficult. I've never worried about the stuffing/juice thing John, and so far I haven't poisoned anybody. Of course I've always rinsed the bird both in and out, thoroughly. I think with fowl, it isn't often the bird itself that makes people ill, even if it is undercooked. Most often, food poisoning traced to poultry comes of people not following basic, healthy practices when dealing with it prior to cooking. You know, cutting it up on a board which is not properly cleaned before using it again for salad veggies or the like. Bacteria has to have time to multiply, and a medium conducive to growth. A bit of raw chicken juice on some cabbage, tossed in dressing and left to sit...urk. Now, if your chicken juices aren't quite hot enough, and get into the stuffing, and you let the leftovers sit on the counter while you have dessert and chat after dinner, and then you don't heat the leftovers thoroughly... :0

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Simple Roast Turkey - High Heat Method ====================================== Source:Barbara Kafka Roasting A Simple Art Many Thanksgivings at my house have proved the high-heat method to be ideal. A fifteen-pound turkey at room temperature takes two hours to roast. However, it may take several hours for the turkey to reach room temperature. While the turkey is sitting out, cover it loosely with a towel, otherwise the skin will dry out. I prefer a fifteen-pound turkey as it isn't too heavy for me to handle. It usually gives lots of good leftovers and is generally available. There are certain things to think of to ensure success before beginning: Remove the giblet bag from the interior of the bird. Remove the wing tips. Put everything except the livers into a pot and start Basic Fowl Giblet Gravy. By the time the bird is roasted, the gravy will be done. Use the liver in the dressing/stuffing or store in the freezer, covered with milk. Make sure there is a pan big enough for the turkey without it's touching the sides of the pan. Do not truss. Consider whether the bird should be stuffed or the stuffing served as dressing baked separately. If stuffing, think in terms of twelve cups of stuffing for a 15 pound bird, which will allow the big cavity to be stuffed and some more stuffing to be crammed under the skin flap at the neck. I seldom stuff because there are real food safety questions about the bird and its stuffing sitting out at room temperature. The oven must be very clean before roasting, or cooking at this high temperature will cause unpleasant smoke. In any case, there will be some smoke, so turn on the fan or open a window. Don't put the oven rack too high or the skin on the breast will get over cooked. For a twenty-pound turkey, the rack should be in the lowest position. Always put the turkey in legs first - dark meat takes longer to cook and the rear of the oven is the hottest area. If the top skin seems to be getting too dark, slip a doubled piece of aluminum foil on top of it. Don't move the turkey. Use an oven mitt to protect hands and forearms. Remove the foil with the same oven mitt ten minutes before the turkey comes out. Large turkeys are most easily removed from the pan by holding them with two pot holders, which will need to be washed. After the meal, get out a large stockpot to boil up the carcass and leftover bones for turkey soup and stock. 15 pound turkey, thawed, if necessary and at room temperature, wing tips removed, reserving giblets and neck for gravy, liver for stuffing. Fresh ground black pepper to taste 1 cup water or basic turkey/chicken stock . Place oven rack on second level from bottom of oven. Heat oven to 500F. Rinse the turkey inside and out. Pat dry. Sprinkle the outside with pepper. If stuffing, stuff cavity and crop, securing openings with long metal skewers. Lace them. Do not truss. Put turkey in an 18 X 13 X2 inch roasting pan, breast side up. Put in oven legs first. Roast until the leg joint near the backbone wiggles easily, about 2 hours. After 20 minutes, move the turkey around with a wooden spatula to keep from sticking. Remove the turkey to a large platter. Let sit 20 minutes before carving. Pour off grease from roasting pan and put pan on top of the stove. Add water or stock. Bring to a boil while scraping bottom of pan vigorously with a wooden spoon, loosening all the crisp bits in the bottom of the pan. These add intensity to the gravy. Let reduce by half. Serve on the side in a sauceboat or add to giblet gravy. 9 pounds stuffed 1 hour 45 minutes unstuffed 1 hour 15 minutes 12 pounds stuffed 1 hour 50 minutes unstuffed 1 hour 20 minutes 15 pounds stuffed 2 hours 30 minutes unstuffed 2 hours 20 pounds stuffed 3 hours 30 minutes unstuffed 3 hours Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Simplest Roast chicken ====================== Copied directly from Barbara Kafka's "Roasting, A simple Art" Cookbook. 5- to 6-pound chicken, wing tips removed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste I lemon, halved 4 whole garlic cloves 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup Basic Chicken Stock or canned, water. Fruit juice. or wine for optional deglazing. Kosher salt, to taste Preheat oven to 500°F TOTAL Roasting time 50 ~ 60 minutes Simplest Roast Chicken Serves 2 to 4 Here it is, the recipe that started the book. If there is no lemon, garlic, or butter on hand, roast the chicken without them. Or play. Use peeled shallots or a small onion, quartered. Add some leaves from the top of a bunch of celery, a couple of sage leaves, or a Bay leaf. Try a few juice orange or blood orange wedges. Vary the deglazing liquid to change the flavor of the gravy or to match what's in the bird. Basic Chicken Stock-or canned-is the starting point, but use part wine-whatever is left over, red or white-or a little vermouth. Make one third of the liquid orange juice if oranges are in the bird. This is not astrophysics. Have fun. Place rack on second level from bottom of oven. heat oven to 500°E Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken. Freeze the neck and giblets for Basic Chicken Stock. Reserve chicken livers for another use. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and butter. if using. Season the cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a 12 x 8 x I 1/2-inch roasting pan breast side up. Put in the oven legs first and roast 50 to 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Alter the first 10 minutes, move the chicken with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking. Remove the chicken to a platter by placing a large wooden spoon into the tail end and balancing the chicken with a kitchen spoon pressed against the crop end. As you lift the chicken, tilt it over the roasting pan so that all the juices run out and into the pan. Pour off or spoon out excess fat from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the chicken or, for crisp skin, in a sauce boat.

Nice looking dinner! But bless the combi-steam oven! I get perfectly crisp skin, more evenly cooked because I butterfly before cooking, without any of the fuss and bother. You can do the same technique in a regular oven if you want to experiment. Roasting a chicken for me is a night off from cooking. :) Cut out the spine and reserve in the freezer with the giblets for stock or whatnot. Spread the chicken open knees in the middle, wingtips tucked under. Brush on any sauce or dressing that has some oil and sugar. Lots of sugar, like most barbecue sauce will lead to char color (still good flavor, not burnt char tasting). Sprinkle with any extra herbs and spices you like. Put in a shallow stainless roasting pan (others are fine but may affect timing) on a bed of sliced onion, baby carrots or 2-3" carrot parts, and whatever other veg you feel like (some edges may get brown charred but tasty, not burnt-ish). Put in a half steamy oven at 360° F for an hour and a half (3.75-4.25 lb. bird). If you don't have a CSO, put a wide pan of water on a lower shelf.

"Gary please tell me that is not your gravy drippings." hehehehehe Why, yes they are.... Is there a problem with that? (: As I said, that was a pic after the first phase of cooking the 7lb roast. It had just survived 21 minutes (7/side) being blasted on low broil. It now has a very thin crust and that was the drippings as a result. I am wondering if the next phase is going to prove/disprove the adage that this would "seal in the juices". Since this is a multi-cut roast, bound with string, I decided not to do a roast-from-frozen cook at low temperature. Rather, I placed the roast in the refrigerator to defrost. What was in that pan were basted back onto the roast. The internal temperature, after blasting it, was at 27d and after being in the refrigerator a few hours reached 38d. when my thermometer alerted me that it was ready for phase 2. It has been cooking at 200d since then. It is almost done. I will hold off divulging whether or not there is a pool of drippings.