pastured chicken!
When planning my trip down to the Los Angeles area, I was surprised to hear there wasn’t a lot of pastured or grass-finished meat available. I feel lucky up in Washington State, with Skagit River Ranch, Sea Breeze Farm, and other great sources of sustainably-raised animal products. But aside from references to a farm selling grass-fed bison, I was having trouble finding any other sources.
Then, at Saturday’s Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, I noticed a sign that said:
Healthy Family Farms
Organic
Free Range Eggs
Fresh Artisan Goat Cheese
Valencia Oranges and Herbs
Pastured Chicken and Duck
Fresh Thanksgiving Turkeys
I admired the goat cheese, the lovely eggs, the jars of yogurt, the fresh chickens lying in bins of ice. I asked about the pastured chickens and we bantered about how they had been pastured, but they weren’t interested in much food beyond ice these days now that they were dead. I bought a chicken, some eggs, and a tub of mild, fresh goat cheese.
As we’ve discussed before, pastured chicken is a step beyond “free range.” It means that the chickens are allowed to roam wherever they want and eat what they want, or that they are frequently moved frequently from one part of the pasture to another, often with a moveable henhouse nearby. It’s better for the soil, for their diet, and for ours.
While I was buying the chicken, I asked the guy at the stand whether he thought there were any factors that made it harder to raise grass-fed or pastured meat in this region. He said the only factor he could think of would be the cost of land in California, but otherwise, the environment was ideal. I wonder if it’s more of a question of demand. Perhaps within a few years, there will be more demand and more availability.
The chicken was delicious, even if my lipid-phobic mother insisted on removing as much of the fat as she could. I didn’t even get a chance to add it to my grandmother’s freezer stash of chicken fat waiting to be rendered into schmaltz (instructions coming in a future post!). Tragic. However, as the chicken was turning in the rotisserie, my grandmother pulled me aside and whispered, “Don’t you dare tell her, but I stuffed a bunch of butter under the skin with the lemons.” My grandmother is wise.
Grandma’s rotisserie chicken
My grandmother has a plug-in rotisserie oven and an outdoor rotisserie barbecue. This recipe can be modified as a roasting recipe instead.
1 chicken (about 2-3 pounds)
a few sprigs of thyme
3 lemons
paprika
salt
a few cloves of garlic, minced
a few shallots, chopped (and any other vegetables you desire)
butter
To prepare your chicken, stuff butter, tarragon, minced garlic, and slices of lemon under the skin as far as you can push them. My 
grandmother’s tip for getting things under the skin: use the handle of a wooden spoon and gently ease the skin up from the muscle tissue. In the cavity of the chicken, place two lemon halves, more thyme, and more garlic. Sprinkle the outside with lemon juice, a little paprika and salt. Place in a rotisserie oven. Underneath the chicken, on a piece of aluminum foil, place some chopped shallots. (If you’re using any other vegetables, pre-sauté them and place them on the foil.).
Set the rotisserie for about an hour. It should cook until the chicken is nicely browned on the outside and juices run clear inside. As it’s cooking, occasionally paint the drippings from below back onto the skin.
When it’s done, pour the drippings and shallots from the bottom of the pan into a bowl and add the juice of one lemon. Serve as a sauce for the chicken.
Monday, April 21, 2008
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