Greek-Style Slow-Roasted Chicken or Game Hen

Slow-Roast Game Hen, Greek-Style

by Cat, January 2011 (photo, right, by Cat)

• Includes: 1. Introduction to slow-roasting chicken; 2. Greek Style Slow-Roast Chicken (with or without potatoes); 3. Game-Hen adaptation; 4. Serving Suggestions
• See also: 1. Greek-Style Roasted Potatoes, with Garlic, Lemon & Oregano; 2. Braised Chicken or Game Hen with Garlic, Herbs & Lemon

I’ve been experimenting with different ways to slow-roast meats, to maximize juiciness and flavor, especially if using cheaper, tougher cuts of meat.  Both slow-roasting and braising use a low heat (in oven, Dutch oven or crock pot), which minimizes glycation and its adverse affects.  I’ve perfected my method for Slow Roasted Beef, Buffalo or Lamb, and now I’m working on chicken.

This recipe is sooo delicious; the mix of lemon, garlic and oregano is perfect!

How Low is “Slow”?  Any temperature at or below 300°F is a “slow” oven setting.  Crock pot recipes have perfected this cooking method, but you can also use a Dutch oven  on stovetop, or a casserole/baking dish in your baking oven. Of course, it takes longer to roast this way, 3 – 5 ½ hours for a 4 pound chicken.  Add to that the minimum 4-hour brining time (for chicken or 1 – 2 hours for game hen), and you can see that this is an all-day cooking method.

For all recipes, use a free-range chicken, preferably grown by a local farmer you trust.  Here in Bigfork, I use chickens raised by a local Hutterite colony.

Roasting Temperature & Time

• 300°F oven requires about 3 hours of roasting time;
• 275°F lengthens the roasting time to 3 ½- 4 hours;
• 250°F requires 5 – 5 ½ hours of roasting time.

Roasting Tips

Most recipes recommend seasoning with salt, pepper and herbs; some include a simple stuffing (garlic and lemon slices, or an onion, for example), but a heavy bread stuffing will not work with this method (because it won’t get to a safe temperature in the cavity of the bird).

Brush breast, legs and thighs with melted butter, or lay strips of bacon over the breast; however, if you brine the breast you may not need the bacon to keep the breast moist.

Frequent basting after the first hour or so is also important.  Some recipes recommend foil or paper-sack tent, which is used for the entire roasting period except the last 30 minutes of cooking.   If you want crispy skin, don’t baste for the last 45 minutes or so, and raise the heat to 350⁰F for the last 5 – 10 minutes.

After roasting, let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Greek Style Slow-Roast Chicken (with or without potatoes)

This recipe is adapted from my own experience with roast chicken in Greek restaurants (mmm), and several recipes, none of which use the slow-roast method:

• GreekFood: Kotopoulo Skorthato: Lemon Garlic Chicken (with Potatoes) (1)
• For the Love of Cooking: Greek Roast Chicken (2) BEWARE: The linked page may contain malware.
• Squidoo.com: Greek Roast Chicken (3)

Essential ingredients: Whole chicken, lemon, oregano (fresh preferred), garlic (lots), olive oil and salt. Potatoes are traditional, but you can certainly make it without them. If lemons are out of season, use preserved lemons.

If you don’t want to use potatoes, try fennel bulb(s) cut into quarters. Fennel is very mediterranean and goes well with the chicken, lemon and oregano. I recommend parboiling if the bulbs are cut vertically in quarters, but not if cut horizontally into 1/4” thick crescents.

You can stuff the whole bird with lemons, garlic and onion as in For the Love of Cooking recipe (2); cut the bird into quarters (or butterfly it) and roast over potatoes as in the GreekFood.about.com recipe (1); roast it without stuffing over a mass of potatoes as in the Squidoo.com recipe (3); or any combination of these options. However, my instructions are for roasting it whole with optional stuffing.

These instructions sound more complicated than it is; this is really an easy recipe. Total time: 4 – 6 hours (including prep), plus minimum 4 hours brine time (if brining).

NOTE: I’ve changed the method after testing a game hen. The former version had you divide the lemons, garlic and oregano into separate piles, using one pile for the chicken and the other pile to make a dressing for roasting the potatoes. I found that making it all up into one dressing, using part for the potatoes and part for the bird to be much easier and more flavorful. Both the chicken and game hen versions have been updated with the changes.

Ingredients & Equipment

• 4 – 6 pound free-range chicken
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 (or more) sprigs fresh oregano, or 2 – 3 tsp dried oregano
• 6 – 8 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 – 2 lemons for bird, plus 1 for potatoes/fennel (if using), halved and juiced for dressing (see below); save spent halves for stuffing, or tucking around the bird.
• For optional potatoes or fennel:
• 1 recipe Greek-Style Roasted Potatoes, with Garlic, Lemon & Oregano; if using fennel instead of potatoes, you will need 4 fennel bulbs, quartered
• For optional stuffing:
• ½ red onion, quartered
• used lemon halves from juicing
• Marinade Dressing for hen and optional potatoes/fennel:
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste (not needed if you brine the hen; instead, sprinkle salt over potatoes/fennel after tossing with dressing)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 (or more) sprigs fresh oregano, or 1 – 2 tsp dried oregano (plus extra for brining, and additional sprigs for potatoes/fennel, if using)
• 1 – 3 cloves fresh garlic for hen plus 2 cloves for potatoes/fennel, if using
• juice of 1 – 3 lemons (from above)
• 1 – 2 Tbsp olive oil for hen, plus 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil for potatoes/fennel
• 5 – 6 Tbsp homemade chicken broth

Method:

1. Remove giblets and save for another use, or chop up to add to stuffing.
2. Brine chicken at least 4 hours, if desired (best to start that the day before).
3. Prep: To shorten roasting time for potatoes/fennel, parboil or steam them whole 10 – 12 minutes, then cut into quarters or smaller wedges. (If you don’t parboil them, you will need to pre-roast them for a longer time before adding the bird; see Pre-Raost Potatoes/Fennel below for details).
4. Squeeze halved lemons (reserving spent lemons); strip oregano leaves from all but 1 – 2 sprigs, then chop; peel garlic cloves, halving those that are large. Mince 2 – 3 cloves; sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and press to paste with side of knife blade. NOTE: if you brine the bird, don’t add salt to press the garlic; then, if roasting potatoes, drizzle portion of dressing over, then sprinkle with salt and toss to combine.
5. Preheat oven to 250° – 300°F; I usually set at 250°F.
6. Dressing: Combine lemon juice, minced garlic, oregano, and ¼ – ½ tsp black pepper in small jar; shake to combine. Add half of the broth (reserve remainder to use during basting); add olive oil and shake once more.
7. Potatoes/Fennel: Place potatoes/fennel, and half of the onion in roasting pan. Pour ⅔ of the dressing over and toss to coat. Arrange in single layer, potato skin-side down, in roasting pan. Add spent lemons, reserving 1 spent lemon to be added later with hen.
8. Roast in preheated oven 1 – 1.5 – 2 hours (or use slow cooker at low setting), until just beginning to be tender (smaller wedges cook faster), before adding chicken. Consider covering with a lid or foil over the baking dish for first hour to speed things up, especially if you did not parboil them.
9. If you don’t parboil the potatoes/fennel, you will need to pre-roast them before adding chicken (see below.
10. Prep chicken: Using paper towel, pat chicken dry, inside & out.  Add juice of ½ lemon into cavity, then sprinkle salt (only if you did not brine the bird) and pepper into cavity
11. Add whole sprig of oregano and whole (or halved) cloves garlic to the cavity. If using stuffing, add spent lemon halves and the quartered onion to the cavity.
12. Starting with the back then the breast side, sprinkle remaining dressing over the entire chicken, rubbing it into the skin.
13. Set seasoned chicken on top of parboiled (or pre-roasted) potatoes/fennel, breast up.
14. Roast: Leave oven at 250°F or increase to 275°F or 300°F for a faster ‘slow’ roast (see “How Low is ‘Slow'” above). Roast bird uncovered, 3 ½ – 5 hours (depending on oven setting), basting every 30 minutes after the first hour.
15. Roast until meat is falling off bones, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in thigh (avoid touching bone) reads 170°F.  Baste every 30 minutes after the first 2 hours of roasting, adding more water if necessary to keep potatoes from drying out. (Or use slow cooker at low setting).  Skin will be sticky and slightly crisp.
16. If you want crispy skin, don’t baste for the last half-hour, and increase oven to 350⁰F for the last 5 minutes of roasting.
17. Remove bird to carving board and let rest, tented, 10 minutes before carving.

Pre-Roast potatoes/fennel (if not parboiled)

1. If you don’t parboil the potatoes: Add juice of ½ lemon to some water in a bowl. Scrub then quarter the potatoes, placing them in the lemon water until ready to assemble.
2. Place potatoes/fennel, and half of the onion in roasting pan. Pour ⅔ of the dressing over and toss to coat.
3. Arrange in single layer, potato skin-side down, in roasting pan. Add spent lemons, reserving 1 – 2 spent lemon to be added later with bird.
4. Pre-roast (before adding hen) in 250°F oven 1.5 – 2 hours until just beginning to be tender (smaller wedges cook faster, as do parboiled potatoes). Consider adding a lid over the baking dish for first hour to speed things up, especially if you did not parboil them.

Testing Chicken Version

Testing, May 8, 2011 (Mothers’ Day): In honor of my Mom, who loved Greek food, I am making this dish today, with the optional lemon stuffing and roasted potatoes. However, after I got all the spent lemons into the cavity, there wasn’t room for the onion, so I didn’t use that. I used a 5 pound Hutterite frozen chicken, thawed.

Preheated oven to 300°F for a slightly shorter cooking time, since I got a late start. Started roasting at 4 PM; started basting every 30-45 minutes at 5 PM. Potatoes beginning to tenderize at 6:30 and chicken is nicely browned. I didn’t check internal temperature but let it continue to cook until the potatoes were tender. Removed from oven at 6:45. Moved chicken to platter and poured most of the liquid off the potatoes. (Too much liquid; next time use less broth/water, ~1/2 cup and add more as necessary), Then returned potatoes to oven at 350° to brown about 15 minutes while the chicken rested.

Result: chicken was a bit overdone but still good; would have been better brined. Potatoes were also nicely tender and flavorful.

Cornish Game Hen Adaptation

This version uses 1 game hen to serve 2, but is easily adapted to 2 hens (to serve 4). These small birds will not need to cook as long as a whole chicken, so I recommend partially roasting just the prepped potatoes before adding the hens. I roasted butterflied hen at 250 for 3 hours, then 300 for 20 minutes and it was perfectly done. Adjusted per testing; see below.

This is really delicious, and my experiment with adding fennel bulb (instead of/in addition to potato) with the onion was a very tasty idea.

Ingredients & Equipment

• 1 Cornish game hen, brined & butterflied (see About Cornish Game Hens, Grouse, Pheasant and other Small Fowl for instructions)
• 1 – 2 lemons for bird, plus 1 for potatoes/fennel (if using), halved and juiced for dressing (see below); save spent halves for stuffing, or tucking around the bird.
• Optional potatoes and/or fennel bulb:
• 2 – 3 yellow or russet potatoes, scrubbed and quartered (see also Greek-Style Roasted Potatoes, with Garlic, Lemon & Oregano; use half recipe but increase olive oil to 4 Tbsp, and broth to ⅓ cup).
• If using fennel (instead of potatoes): 2 fennel bulbs, quartered
• Optional stuffing (for whole, not butterflied hen):
• ¼ red onion, halved or quartered, per hen
• used lemon halves from juicing
• Dressing for hen and optional potatoes/fennel:
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste (not needed if you brine the hen; instead, sprinkle salt over potatoes/fennel after tossing with dressing)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 (or more) sprigs fresh oregano, or 1 – 2 tsp dried oregano (plus extra for brining, and additional sprigs for potatoes/fennel, if using)
• 1 – 3 cloves fresh garlic for hen plus  2 cloves for potatoes/fennel, if using
• juice of 1 – 3 lemons (from above)
• 1 – 2 Tbsp olive oil for hen, plus 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil for potatoes/fennel
• 5 – 6 Tbsp homemade chicken broth
• Equipment:
• large bowl for brining
• small jar with lid
• baking or casserole dish, with optional lid (or aluminum foil)
• lemon juicer

Method:

1. Remove giblets and save for another use. Butterfly the hen, or leave whole.
2. Brine the hen using 6 Tbsp kosher salt, 1 – 2 Tbsp sugar, 5 ½ cups water, and 1 – 2 sprigs fresh oregano for 1 – 2 hours. Rinse and pat dry, then place in fridge, skin side up, overnight to crisp the skin.
3. Preheat oven to 250° – 300°F; or increase to 275°F or 300°F for a faster ‘slow’ roast (see “How Low is ‘Slow'” above). I usually set at 250°F.
4. Prep: To shorten roasting time for potatoes/fennel, parboil them whole 10 – 12 minutes. (If you don’t parboil them, you will need to pre-roast them for a longer time before adding the bird; see Pre-Raost Potatoes/Fennel above for details).
5. Meanwhile, halve, then squeeze lemons for juice (reserving spent lemons); strip oregano leaves from all but 1 – 2 sprigs, then chop; peel and mince 2 – 3 garlic cloves (reserve at least 2 cloves for the roasting pan); press to a paste with side of knife blade. NOTE: add salt to the minced garlic before pressing IF you did not brine the chicken. If you brine the chicken, do not add salt to the dressing; instead, sprinkle potatoes with salt after tossing with dressing.
6. Dressing: Combine lemon juice, minced garlic, oregano, and ¼ – ½ tsp black pepper in small jar; shake to combine. Add half of the broth (reserve remainder to use during basting), shake again; add olive oil and shake once more.
7. Potatoes/Fennel: Place potatoes/fennel, and half of the onion in roasting pan. Pour ½ – ⅔ of the dressing over and toss to coat. Arrange in single layer, potato skin-side down, in roasting pan. Add spent lemons, reserving 1 spent lemon to be added later with hen.
8. Roast in 250°F oven 1 – 1.5 hours until just beginning to be tender (smaller wedges cook faster). Consider adding a lid over the baking dish for first half-hour to speed things up, especially if you did not parboil them.
9. Prep whole hen: After brining, using paper towel, pat chicken dry, inside & out.  Add 2 halves of spent lemon, whole (or halved) garlic cloves, and remaining onion into cavity, then sprinkle cavity with pepper. Starting with the back then the breast side, sprinkle with remaining dressing and rub into skin. Set hen on top of potatoes, breast up. Tuck whole oregano sprigs around bird.
10. Prep butterflied hen: After brining, rinse and pat dry. Sprinkle with remaining dressing and rub into the hen. Place skin-side up on top of parboiled or pre-roasted potatoes/fennel, and arrange remaining onion and spent lemon halves around the butterflied hen. Tuck whole oregano sprigs around hen.  I usually add more broth, 1 – 3 Tbsp as needed, if potatoes had begun to dry, and I increase heat from 250°F for the potatoes to 275°F for a faster slow-roast.
11. Roast, uncovered in oven, 1 – 4 hours (depending on oven setting; see How Low is “Slow,” above), basting every 30 minutes after the first hour, and adding more water if necessary to keep potatoes from drying out. (Or use slow cooker at low setting). Roast until meat is falling off bones, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in thigh (avoid touching bone) reads 175° – 180°F. Skin will be sticky and slightly crisp.
12. If using a slow cooker, cover the pot and roast about 6 – 7 hours. The cooker does the basting.
13. If you want crispy skin, don’t baste for the last half-hour, and increase oven to 350°F for the last 5 – 10 minutes of roasting. If using a slow cooker, remove chicken to baking pan for browning.
14. Remove bird to carving board and let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Testing Game Hen Version

Testing, Jany 4-5, 2012:

• Butterflied and brined the hen for 2 ½ hours (longer than I’d intended – I got waylaid at lunch), then rinsed and dried it and placed the pieces skin-side up on a plate to rest in fridge overnight (this helps the skin to crisp). Next day, prepped veggies (did not parboil potatoes). Put potatoes in 250 oven to roast at 1:15 PM; still pretty raw at 2:15 so left in oven, covered, while I went out for lunch. Returned at 4 PM and the spuds were tender, but not yet browned. Very little moisture left so I added 1/4 cup water. Added hen pieces with onion, whole garlic and lemon, and removed lid. Raised temperature to 275 so would be done by dinner time at 6. It sure smells good in the kitchen! But by 7 PM (3 hours in oven) the thigh had only reached 150 F. I added some brined olives and upped the oven temp to 350. They reached 175 by 7:20, and were nicely browned. Potatoes are very well done and nicely browned as well. Served with braised asparagus, cooked beet, and freshly made sourdough chapati (spelt) with butter.
• Total cooking time: potatoes 2 hours plus 45 minutes alone, and 3+ hours with hen; game hen about 3 hours plus 20 minutes.
• Result: Very good flavor, but too salty – I forgot and added salt to the garlic rub plus what was in the brine. The potatoes were so good!

Testing Game Hen 8/22/14 with potatoes.

• Made as written using game hen and 2 medium red potatoes. Chopped fresh oregano using half for potatoes’  dressing, half for the hen. Juiced 2 lemons (one for the dressing on the potatoes and one for the hen). Minced and pressed 3 small garlic cloves to a paste, using half in the dressing for the potatoes and the other half to rub on the chicken. Also added 2 whole garlic cloves to the roasting pan with the onion and spent lemons. Parboiled whole potatoes about 12 minutes, then quartered them, placed in roasting pan, poured dressing and ¼ cup broth over, and into preheated 300°F oven at 3:45 PM. Added butterflied hen with lemon juice and more oregano, and returned to oven at 4:45 PM. Lost track of time so didn’t do first baste until 6:30; it was a bit dry so added more broth/water mix. Potatoes are almost done and hen is browning nicely. Basted 2 more times, and raised oven to 35o at 7:30. Then out of the oven at 7:45.
• Total cooking time for hen: 4 hours (at 300F); total time for potatoes: 12 minutes in steamer plus 5 hours in oven with chicken, although they were fork tender after 2 hours in oven).
• Result: Delicious! Potatoes were a bit dry; I think I should have used more oil in the dressing and not have let the pan get dry. But still delicious.

Testing Game Hen with Fennel Bulb, 6/23/13: Brined 3 hours; made as written, using fennel instead of potato. Roasted at 250°F for first 2 ½ hours but since it had only reached 125°F in the thigh, I increased to 300°F, and then to 350°F for last 20 minutes so it would brown. Total time: 4 hours 15 min. I added more broth during roasting; total broth: ¾ cup. Result: orgasmic hen. The fennel could have cooked a little more, so in future I will parboil it first.

Testing Game Hen with Potato, 7/19/15: Brined 3 hours, then dried and peppered hen; placed in fridge for 2 days and made as written using yukon potato and no fennel. Used 3 cloves garlic and 1 ½ lemons. When mixed the dressing, I added ¼ cup broth to the dressing, rather than adding them to the roasting pan and ingredients separately. Parboiled potato 20 minutes, then quartered, placed in pan with onion and poured half of the dressing over. Pre-roasted, covered, 20 minutes in 275°F oven. At 5:10 PM, removed cover, added hen (rubbed with minced garlic), and spent lemon plus 2 sprigs of fresh oregano; raised oven to 300°F. 7:45 PM: potatoes are almost done; hen is also close, and browning nicely, and I’m hungry. 8:15 PM: Done and ready to eat. Served with cooked beet; also braised snow peas, green beans and cauliflower with reduced, overripe tomato. Result: Hen and potato is excellent and done to perfection; braised veggies with the tomato is an tasty accompaniment.

Serving Suggestions (for Chicken or Game Hen)

• Serve with Horiatiki Salad, Tabouli, or a Beet Salad on top of fresh greens.
• Seared asparagus, broccoli or green beans, or braised spinach or chard makes a nice accompaniment, too.
• Baklava or Orange Semolina Cake, or just berries and cream for dessert.

References:

1. GreekFood: Kotopoulo Skorthato: Lemon Garlic Chicken (with Potatoes) (greekfood.about.com/od/poultrydishes/r/kotopouloskorth.htm)
2. For the Love of Cooking: Greek Roast Chicken (fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot. com/2010/02/greek-roasted-chicken.html) BEWARE: The linked page may contain malware.
3. Squidoo.com: Greek Roast Chicken (squidoo.com/greek-roasted-chicken)