Marilyn....strangely enuf, I had one in the fridge, thawing out, but only one 3.5 lb. I had suggested to Marie that as we had not had a whole chuck for about three weeks, it was time.

So, this morning, I removed it from the bag, washed it out well, removing any extraneous bits left in the middle....dried it out well, and put in another bag without a hole in it!! Added 1/4 cup ginger wine, 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine, one tbls sesame oil, shook it all around,and sealed the bag, and back into the fridge, and in a couple of hours, I will add 2-3 minced garlic cloves, and a half tsp of Calvins, to the cavity, and re-seal the bag. Now, I have, for the last 5 or 6 years cooked chicken in our small convection oven, on the rack, with water in the bottom tray. In the convection oven, it always comes out golden, and the flavor is superb. This bird will sit and marinate all day, and late this afternoon, I will remove it from the bag, reserving the liquid, spray it all over with an olive oil spritzer, and if you aint got one of those, I can really recommend it....little plastic bottle with a pump in the top, which you half fill with olive oil(or whatever) pump up some pressure and spray away! Then into the oven with that bird, and about an hour later it is perfection! That is at 325F Convection oven is always faster , but I always use a chef's thermometer to about 170F.

The reserved liquid, and the garlic, I will add to the oven tray, scrape the brown bits, tranfer to a small pot and make a gravy. Lots of variations....sometimes I slice an onion and lay it on the tray before adding the water....use the imagination! Cheers, Doug in BC

From:   Doug Irvine
Posted By:   Doug Irvine, ViaChile Head Mailing List
Post Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000