ISO: ISO Pat LoCal..we had the chicken marbella you posted...

[joanietoo]

thank you, it was delicious.BUT the chicken was too darn tough. I bought a whole fresh(??? or had it been defrosted) chicken which I thought would be fine...I'm sure the dang thing flew here from Hong Kong....or ran miles when it knew it's time had come.

I just never seem to have luck with tender chickens. I usually buy the Asian frozen pieces...

they are so cheap (about $2.00 for a box of 5 whole legs) that I feel they cant be that healthy.....

What do you get/buy in your part of the world?

 

[durward]

That's too bad.I guess you are just bound by what the markets will have in your part of the world.

Recently in our paper there was an article about a new kind of chicken that is being raised in our part of the country/state. It is called a "poulet rouge" and is distinguished by a long and quite ugly red neck. It seems to have been a cross with a turkey at some time. It is "free range" and the article pointed out that regular free range chickens are just the same specie of chicken that is grown by the huge producers--Perdue, etc.--just under different conditions. So there really isn't a difference in those chickens.
I got one of the poulet rouge (at $2.99/lb=$12 for it!!!) and did a simple roast chicken. I love chicken. This was truly a remarkable taste--VERY different, succulent, lean, delicious. Not much of a way to describe. The bones were longer--long leg bone, long breast bone. One of our favorite restaurants in town is serving them--I'll have to order it sometime to see.
Anyway, I just buy "chicken" and since it has probably never even been on its legs, it is tender. Hope you can get an improvement. In all thetime I have seen that recipe posted, I finally printed it out to try.

 

[cheezz]

can't wait to try this... I have it marinating the fridge for dinner tomorrow as we speak!

I'm sick of chicken so I am making it using cornish hens... will let you know how it comes out!

 

[pat-nocal]

Oh Joanie, I'm sorry to hear about the tough chicken.

I haven't had that happen to me. Usually I just cut up a whole chicken into quarters or just use parts, like the whole legs you mentioned. I wonder if it would help to cook your chicken longer than stated...maybe it would help make them more tender????