Roasted Rooster

Our first rooster was somewhat of a success - slow cooked coconut curry.  It tasted amazing and fell of the bone, but it still had a slight stringiness to it which was a bit disappointing and left Pappa Bear unconvinced of all our efforts to raise our own chickens for the table.  I was determined to make the next rooster a success, and boy was it!

After finding out the stringiness is due to cooking our bird while in early stages of Rigor Mortis I read up on resting and hanging birds after slaughter.  For home-kill chickens it's recommended you hang the carcass for 1 to 4 days in a cool place (cool being 10-12 Celsius).  Yeah right!  Like I'm going to find somewhere that cool in February.  With hanging our rooster out of the question I investigated other ways of resting a chicken after slaughter.  Another method I found was resting the chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, easy enough, so we gave it a try.

After killing, plucking and dressing our noisiest crowing rooster I tucked it into plastic tray, wrapped it in a plastic bag and let it sit on the top shelve in our fridge for 2 days.  On the first day the muscles still felt a little on the stiff side, but by day 2 the rooster was soft and floppy like you find it at the supermarket.  Apples and lemon on hand from the garden I went in search of herbs that matched the scent of the fruit.  Tarragon and sage came back inside with me.  After 2 hours of slow roasting (supermarket chicken may only take an hour and a half) the rooster turned out beautifully and we all gave a big sigh of relief - home kill rooster is a wonderfully tender and tasty meal and has been worth the effort.  One more success as we learn to live the Good Life.

The leg bone looks massive, and it is - this is what chicken looks like when it's not
killed as a baby (5-7 weeks) like they are commercially.

Slow Roasted Rooster

1 Rooster (or free range chicken)
1 Apple, washed
1 Lemon, washed
1T Butter
Tarragon and Sage, a few sprigs of each
Salt

1/2 C White Wine
1T Butter

Heat over to 150C.  Cut apple and lemon into wedges, removed seeds and stuff into cavity.  Chop up herbs and mix with the butter, push and massage butter under the breast skin.  Sprinkle a little salt over the bird and tuck into an oven bag (or covered roasting dish).  Bake for 1.5-2 hours till juices run clear and meat is falling off the bone.

Put chicken aside, cover and rest while you make the sauce.  Strain roasting juices into a pan and add the wine and butter.  Bring to a simmer and reduce by half.  We had a ours with left over cucumber mango salsa and creamy mash.