Original Psycho Chicken

Gremi's Note:

This recipe is simply something I threw together one night. After posting it on Cooking Light's bulletin board it became such an enormous success, it was suggested I submit my recipe to the magazine. Cooking Light's version of Psycho Chicken appeared as the Featured Reader Recipe in the June, 2002 issue-- and while I was grateful to have been spotlighted, I couldn't help feeling that the published rendition lost something of the original spirit of the recipe. Psycho Chicken is less about ingredients than it is a technique-- it is about a slashing and slathering method of infusing flavor into the chicken, then dredging the meat in the juices after cooking. Play with the quantities of flavorings, change herbs, don't even worry about whether you use a rack. But use the method. Please. THAT'S what Psycho Chick is all about.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 5

• 1 (3 ½ lb) chicken
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon garlic , pressed
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon malt vinegar
• ½ cup dry white wine (sauvignon blanc works well)
• salt
• fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Clean chicken and remove giblets.
3. Hack chicken all over with the tip of a sharp chef's knife to make gashes.
4. In a small bowl, mix together thyme, garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar, and slather liberally on chicken, taking care that mixture gets into slits in the meat.
5. Place chicken on rack in roasting pan and roast about 2 hours until golden and fragrant, basting every twenty or thirty minutes with a splash of wine and any juices in the pan.
6. Now this is the crucial part, which will make or break the entire dish: If this is cooked properly, your chicken should be running with wonderful juices as you carve.
7. Dredge each slice of carved meat in those juices before placing on platter-- the juices are loaded with garlic and herb flavor.

Reviews

[Chef Stu #2]

It's past time for me to review this wonderful idea on roasting a chicken. I have made a few very minor changes; oregano for thyme, chicken stock and white wine for basting, and a little extra garlic. The taste is wonderful, I do let it go a bit longer at 350 but Psycho chicken rocks and is a family favorite. The gravy is something my wife drools over just at the mention of me making it. Thanks Gremi, I apologize for my latency in posting this. Heck Yes! I'm making it tonight!

[Southern Polar Bear]

This was really good. It smelled absolutely wonderful while it was cooking, but I felt it needed something more to make it a five-star recipe.

[EdsGirlAngie]

I got all Norman Bates with my bird and actually slashed it up in the shower as in the movie... except that I didn't have the shower on and I made sure the hubby wasn't in the house, LOL! (Just getting into the spirit...) I also let mine marinate overnight and for the first hour or so I cooked it at 350 degrees F since my chicken was larger than what the recipe stated. This is definitely very juicy; I expected a little more herb-garlic flavor so I'll probably add more seasoning next time. I also like a little crispier skin that higher oven heat creates. But overall, I really liked the recipe and as Gremi says, you can play around with the ingredients, but USE THE TECHNIQUE! Thanks for posting!