Most.Amazing.Chicken.Ever

As we continually strive to live within a budget, one of the most cost effective ways I've found to feed a family of 5 is to do freezer meals.  Once every 6 or so weeks, we load up the kids and head to Sam's Club for an afternoon of sampling food and stocking up on meat.  I buy several packages of each type and cut of meat, then spend the rest of the afternoon preparing the meat to freeze for later use.  I always marinade the meat before freezing, and today I want to share with you the most amazing chicken marinade recipe I've found to date, as well as some tips that produced the best chicken I've ever made.  This recipe has a secret ingredient that I ordinarily wouldn't think to cook with but it works in this recipe.  That secret ingredient is....

My husband has an aversion to anything vinegar, including regular, apple cider and balsamic, but he gobbled the chicken right up without a second thought.  Yep, it's that good! One thing to note, this recipe makes a lot of marinade so I'd suggest either reducing this down or even better, doing two meals at once.

Vinegar Chicken Marinade
(recipe modified from allrecipes.com)

You will need:
2 whole/roaster chickens

1 egg
1 C. vegetable oil
2 C cider vinegar (OR 1 C regular and 1 C cider vinegar as I did)
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparing the marinade:

Rinse the chickens inside and out, blot dry and set aside.  Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk until beaten.  A bit at a time, whisk in the oil.  When fully blended, whisk in the vinegar, salt, garlic powder, poultry seasoning and pepper.  Divide the marinade into two freezer bags, place one chicken into each bag, squeeze out all the air then seal. 

Cooking the chicken:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I prefer to roast my chicken in a glass casserole so that I can easily baste with the juices.  If you want to put any herbs, vegetables or lemons into the cavity of the chicken, do so now.  I only had red onions at the time, so I stuffed those inside, then covered the chicken with foil.  Roast at 350 for about an hour then remove the foil, baste the chicken all over with the juices and let cook for another 20 or so minutes.  At this point, mine was okay but please use a meat thermometer to be sure. 

Once I removed the chicken, I let it sit for a couple of minutes to allow the juices to redistribute.  When I did, I noticed that the skin wasn't as browned as I like, so I stuck the chicken under the broiler for about 5 more minutes.  It bubbled a bit, but didn't actually crisp, so if you like crispy skin you could probably leave it under there longer. 

When it was browned enough for my liking, I took it out, let it sit for about 5-10 minutes more then sliced into it.... oh man this meat was delicious!  The meat was flavorful and juicy and retained a bit of the tang of the vinegary marinade.  I usually don't eat white meat because I think it's too dry, but I tried some yesterday and this marinade has made a white meat believer out of me! 

I hope you try this delicious, economical recipe for yourself!

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