Baked gherkins. Chicken gherkins: a recipe for cooking in the oven whole and in portions

Previously, on sale, one could often find French chickens coquelet (cockerel) weighing 600-650 grams in the freezing department. But recently, more and more often, domestic small chickens, the so-called gherkins, from 550 to 700 grams, have begun to appear on store shelves, I have not seen less. Sometimes it is very convenient to cook such chickens, because one piece will turn out per serving, that is, per person. Lovers of digging in the bones will get special pleasure.

Ready-made chickens are very tasty, and thanks to a simple reception, they are also very juicy. In general, some pluses, not counting only the price, for some reason they have it unreasonably high, in my opinion.

We will prepare the products for cooking gherkin chicken in the oven according to the list. Remove the chicken from the package, rinse under running water. As a rule, they are always clean, it is not necessary to remove the remnants of feathers or tar down.

Also wash thyme and peeled garlic.

Pour one and a half liters of slightly warm water into a deep bowl, add salt and sugar, dissolve them completely.

Put the chicken in the cooled brine, leave it in it for 30 minutes. Due to this, the meat of a small chicken will remain juicy during baking, especially the breast, which dries out in the oven instantly.

Now take the cockerel out of the brine, let the water drain, put it in the smallest baking dish. Tie the legs with natural twine or cooking twine, sprinkle the meat inside and out with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now chop a large clove of garlic, tear the thyme sprigs, put them in a bowl. Put a tablespoon of quality butter to them, put in the microwave for a minute.

Using a silicone brush, brush the skin of the chicken with fragrant oil, then put the gherkin chicken in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for 30-40 minutes. From time to time, continue to lubricate the skin with the remaining oil. After a while, make a puncture with something sharp on the thigh or on the chest. If absolutely clean and transparent juice comes out, the chicken is ready.

The size of the finished cockerel is clearly visible against the background of forks and on a regular dinner dish. It really turned out to be one serving, because after removing the bones, pure meat remained, I think, about 300 grams, maybe a little more. But the cockerel is really very tasty and juicy, perhaps due to the cooking method too.

In some countries, these chickens are especially popular, they are served in several pieces on a large dish - each with a whole cockerel. Enjoy.

The term "gherkin chicken" is a recent development. It is applied to small broiler chickens. Typically, the weight of a gherkin chicken is in the range of 700 g to 1 kg.

The meat of the gherkin chicken is particularly tender and juicy. In addition, it has a very small amount of fat, based on this quality, the meat is recommended for dietary and baby food.

A new product in the trade raises a natural question, how to cook a gherkin chicken? We offer several different recipes for cooking gherkins.

Chicken gherkins in the oven

The recipe for cooking gherkins in the oven with a grill can be mastered even by a novice hostess.

gherkins - 3 pcs.;
vegetable oil - 50 g;
garlic - half a head;
lemon - ½ pc.;
soy sauce - 50 ml;
seasonings (ginger, nutmeg, pepper);
salt - to taste.

Thawed, washed and dried with a paper napkin carcasses of chickens are cut along the sternum. Having placed the chickens in the container, we proceed to the pickling process, sprinkling them on top with grated ginger, nutmeg, crushed garlic, pouring lemon juice, vegetable oil and soy sauce. Salt and pepper to taste, mix everything and leave it in the refrigerator for several hours.

Place the chicken skin side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. We place the sheet with chickens in an oven preheated to 200 degrees, turning on the grill. After 15 minutes, we take out the baking sheet, turn the chickens over and put them back in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Rosy and juicy chickens are ready!

If you want to cook a dish for the festive table, we advise you to make a stuffed gherkin chicken.

Stuffed chicken gherkins

gherkins - 3 pcs.;
bread on toast - 120 g;
hard cheese - 100 g;
apple - 1 pc. (large);
onion - 2 pcs.;
greens (parsley and dill);
garlic - 4 cloves;
ground black pepper and salt to taste;
a little vegetable oil;
sleeve for baking.

We dry the washed chickens outside and inside the carcass. To prepare the filling, cut the bread into small cubes, fry it in a pan in a small amount of vegetable oil. We clean the apple and onion and, finely chopped, lightly fry (separately from the croutons). Mix chopped greens with croutons, apple, onion, grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste. We stuff the carcasses and fasten them with toothpicks so that the filling does not fall out. Coat with a mixture of crushed garlic and vegetable oil. Carefully fold the gherkins into the culinary sleeve. We fix the ends of the package for baking. In the oven, chickens are cooked for 40-45 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees.

Gherkins cut in half, laid out on a dish along with baked vegetables, look very appetizing!

Love tender chicken dishes? Then be sure to try the recipes for chicken tobacco and chicken in wine. Bon appetit!

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When you are once again told that gherkins are named so by analogy with small cucumbers - do not believe it: in fact, this name is tracing paper from the English Cornish hen, that is, Cornish chicken. However, this linguistic incident does not at all negate the fact that the gherkin chicken is small in stature, and also very tasty and, when baked in the oven, will give a hundred points ahead of the usual broiler both in taste and in elegance of presentation. In this recipe, we marry the delicate flavors of chicken with the powerful flavors of garlic and rosemary to achieve a combination of juicy meat and golden brown. In the absence of gherkins, you can cook an ordinary chicken in a similar way - of course, with all the adjustments for its size.

Chicken gherkin in the oven

The first thing we will do with the chickens is to cook by mixing water, salt and sugar until the latter dissolve, and put our gherkins in it for half an hour so that the chickens are completely under water. With this simple trick, their meat will become juicier, including the breast, which usually dries out first. After removing the chickens from the brine, rinse them under running water and pat dry with paper towels, then rub inside and out with salt and black pepper. Don't overdo it with salt - the chicks will come out of the brine already quite salty.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, add two crushed garlic cloves and two sprigs of rosemary and saute until browned. Strain the oil and brush the surface of the chickens with it, and place the remaining garlic inside. Place the chickens in a baking dish and cook in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 30 minutes, periodically pouring over the secreted juices. The chickens will be ready when the temperature in the meatiest part reaches 74 degrees (if you do not have a meat thermometer, focus on clear juice). If by this time the skin of the chickens has not yet become golden and crispy, turn on the grill with airflow to the maximum, and do not leave the oven - an extra minute, and the appetizing gherkin will turn into coal. Leave the chickens in a warm place for 5 minutes and then serve, one per serving.

Why gherkins?

The term "gherkin chicken" appeared quite recently, two or three years ago. This is the same broiler, but did not reach the required weight for its category. Such specimens are pulled by only 350 grams, and in size they overtake only a quail. That's why they were called gherkins - in honor of small cucumbers, collected before full ripening. It is believed that their meat has less growth hormones, and this, they say, is better for the health of the people who eat them. It seems that this is a simple marketing ploy to sell the "undersized", because such dwarfs are not pampered with special food during their lifetime. But we will not penetrate the secrets of poultry farms here, but consider how to cook gherkin chickens. Here are some proven recipes.

Provencal bird

Both broilers and chicken gherkins are suitable for this dish, the recipe is identical. It is necessary to rinse the carcass, move the skin on the neck (but do not damage it) and put softened butter mixed with Provencal herbs under the skin. Try to spread this mixture over the entire surface, how much you get with your finger. Squeeze one head of garlic through a press. Mix with sliced lemon. Stuff the belly of the bird with this mass. The baking sheet should be greased with any fat, put the chicken carcasses there, overlay them with chopped potatoes (8-10 small tubers will be enough for two gherkins). Salt and pepper and put in a preheated oven to medium temperature. Chicken gherkins, the recipe for which we have outlined, ripen in 40 minutes or an hour.

Surprise on the grill

Defrost three or four carcasses, rinse, dry. We cut, as for the dish "Chicken Tobacco", that is, along the sternum. Squeeze the head of garlic into a deep bowl, put half a teaspoon of grated ginger and nutmeg each. Pour the juice of half a lemon, a quarter cup of soy sauce and the same amount of olive oil. Add spices and salt. We put the chickens in this container and set to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. After that, we place the carcasses on a baking sheet with the skin down and put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 220 C. We shift them to another barrel and set them for another 20 minutes. Chicken gherkins, whose recipe resembles barbecue, can be tried out at a picnic when the coals have burned through enough.

How to cook gherkins in pots

Finely chop 4 cloves of garlic, parsley and dill, mix this with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and a spoonful of coarse salt. Grate two carcasses with the mixture outside and inside and leave for two hours in a warm place. Bulgarian pepper and carrot cut into strips, and two potatoes into cubes. Saute the onion in 3 large spoons of butter, add vegetables, salt, send spices there, stew a little. Put carcasses with vegetables in pots, pour a quarter cup of water, cover with a lid. Then put in a cold oven at 200 C for an hour.

Chicken gherkins - modified recipe

This is a variation on the theme of chickens in pots. Together with bell pepper, you can send baked eggplant or zucchini. Tomatoes add color to the dish, but they must first be scalded and peeled.

Variation with bacon

The only problem with gherkins is that their meat is lean, and therefore, when baked in the oven, it can dry out. To prevent this from happening, try wrapping the portions in...thin slices of bacon. This technique will not only preserve juiciness, but also give the dish the aroma of smoked meats. It will be useful to wrap scalded pitted prunes in this roll.

Gherkin chickens are named this way not because they are small in size. In fact, the name comes from the English Cornish hen, which means Cornish chicken. Poultry meat of this breed has a great taste, as well as dishes prepared according to the recipes below.

How delicious to cook chicken gherkins?

If you have young broiler carcasses weighing from 400 to 600 g in your hands, it's time to learn how to cook them correctly. A proven recipe and true recommendations will help you get the perfect delicacy in every respect and fully enjoy its excellent taste.

Pre-soaking carcasses for 30 minutes in brine from 1.5 liters of water, 3 tbsp. spoons of salt and 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar.
After soaking, the carcasses need to be rinsed, dried and marinated, choosing the appropriate recipe.
Gherkin chicken dishes can be cooked in a pan, in the oven, on the grill, in an air grill or using a slow cooker.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in the oven

Even a laconically baked gherkin chicken in the oven is many times tastier, juicier and softer than ordinary broiler chicken, and if you add an exquisite marinade or original accompaniment to the carcass, there will be no limit to the delight of eating such a delicacy. A little garlic and rosemary will make the taste of the bird inimitable.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 2 pcs.;
garlic - 5-6 cloves;
sprigs of rosemary - 5-6 pcs.;
butter - 50 g;
salt pepper.

Cooking

Rub chicken carcasses with salt and pepper.
Fry a couple of cloves of garlic and two sprigs of rosemary in oil.
Lubricate the chickens with fragrant oil, and put the remaining garlic and rosemary inside.
They send a baking sheet with carcasses to an oven heated to 200 degrees, from time to time water the bird with juices.
After 30-40 minutes, the ruddy gherkins chickens will be ready.

Chicken gherkins stuffed in the oven

Even more tender and juicier will be chicken gherkin stuffed with stuffing. In fact, you can take any mix of ingredients as filling: fried mushrooms with onions and vegetables, steamed raisins with prunes, or other ingredients. The following is a poultry recipe with rice, pumpkin, herbs and spices.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 2 pcs.;
sweet pumpkin - 150 g;
rice - 150 g;
soy sauce - 4 tbsp. spoons;
grain mustard and honey - 2 teaspoons each;
tangerine - 1 pc.;
curry, paprika, pepper, dill - to taste;
oil - 20 ml.

Cooking

Mix mustard, honey, tangerine juice, oil, seasonings and 2 tbsp. spoons of soy sauce.
Rub chicken with marinade and leave for an hour.
Boiled rice is mixed with chopped pumpkin, soy sauce, spices and herbs, filled with a mass of poultry carcasses.
The preparation of gherkin chickens is completed in an oven heated to 170 degrees, placing them in the device for 40 minutes.

Chicken gherkin in the sleeve

Chicken gherkins, the recipe of which will be outlined below, are cooked in the sleeve, thereby keeping the oven and baking sheet clean. Another indisputable advantage of this method of oven heat treatment is the magnificent tender and juicy taste of the meat obtained. Even individuals larger than average will turn out tasty and soft.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 2 pcs.;
spices for poultry, oil and lemon juice - 1 teaspoon each;
garlic - 4 cloves;
soy sauce - 30 ml;
salt pepper.

Cooking

Rub the chickens with a mixture of soy sauce, garlic and spices, leave for 30-60 minutes.
Carcasses are placed in a sleeve on a baking sheet and sent to an oven heated to 200 degrees.
Baked chicken gherkins will be ready in 30 minutes.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in a pan

Chicken gherkins fried in a pan, in fact, are nothing more than a Georgian dish of tobacco chicken. The delicacy is prepared simply and quickly, and the taste overshadows all other poultry cooking options. Delicate in taste, surprisingly piquant and appetizingly ruddy meat is worthy of serving to any, even to a festive, table.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 2 pcs.;
spices - to taste;
garlic - 4-6 cloves;
oil - 50 ml;
salt, black ground pepper.

Cooking

The bird is cut along the abdomen, unfolded and beaten off.
The carcasses are rubbed with a mixture of salt, pepper, spices, squeezed garlic, left for 30 minutes.
Next, gherkin chickens are fried in hot oil in a frying pan under pressure, browning on both sides.

Chicken gherkin in aerogrill

Airfryer is the best way to cook poultry. And if you are the happy owner of such a device, it's time to cook delicious and ruddy gherkins in it. As a marinade, you can use your favorite spicy set or use the mix proposed in this recipe.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 2 pcs.;
mayonnaise - 100 g;
lemon - 0.5-1 pc.;
garlic - 3 cloves;
curry and paprika - 1 teaspoon each;
sugar - a pinch;
salt, pepper, herbs.

Cooking

Mix mayonnaise with garlic, spices, sugar, salt and pepper, rub the bird with the mixture, leave for an hour.
Lubricate the carcasses with lemon juice, put lemon slices and sprigs of greens in the abdomen.
Each gherkin chicken is placed on the grill, on the middle grate, pouring a little water on the bottom of the device and preparing the delicacy for 30 minutes at 250 degrees.

Chicken gherkins on the grill

The following recipe will help you cook a delicacy over coals on the grill. In this case, the marinade for gherkin chickens is prepared on the basis of sunflower or olive oil with the addition of black pepper, paprika, thyme and garlic passed through a press. Optionally, you can add ground chili.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 3 pcs.;
oil - 100 ml;
paprika, pepper and thyme - 0.5 tsp each;
salt.

Cooking

Chicken carcasses are cut along the abdomen, unfolded and beaten a little.
Mix the ingredients for the marinade and rub the bird with the mixture.
After 30 minutes, you can start frying the bird over the coals, laying it on the grill.
In half an hour, a delicious appetizer with a smoky flavor will be ready.

Gherkin Chicken Soup

The classic gherkin chicken broth turns out to be as dietary as possible and is suitable for use as a base even for children's first courses. However, hot dishes can be cooked using more sophisticated technologies, and thus provide your lunch meal with an unusual original dish.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkin - 1 pc.;
smoked sausage and brisket - 150 g each;
oil - 40 ml;
beans - 200 g;
water - 3 l;
onion - 1 pc.;
garlic - 3 cloves;
paprika, pepper and salt - to taste;
greenery.

Cooking

Soak the beans, leave for 12 hours.
The chicken is rubbed with salt, pepper and browned in the oven for 20 minutes.
Together with beans and smoked meats, the bird is sent to a pot of water.
They also add roasted onions and garlic, cook hot with barely noticeable languishing until the beans are soft.
Salt the soup, season, warm for a couple of minutes.

Chicken gherkins - recipe in a slow cooker

Frying a gherkin chicken in a slow cooker is especially simple. As a marinade, you can use the proposed mix of spices and spices, or take a set of ingredients that best suits individual preferences. Half an hour is enough for the meat to be saturated with aromas and become piquant.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 3 pcs.;
soy sauce - 50 ml;
oil - 50 ml;
lemon - 0.5 pcs.;
garlic - 2-3 cloves;
salt pepper.

Cooking

The carcasses are rubbed with a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic.
Oil is mixed with lemon juice and soy sauce, poured over chicken with a mixture and left for 30 minutes.
Put the chicken in a bowl, pour the rest of the marinade and cook on the "Baking" for 40 minutes.

Chicken gherkin boiled-smoked

The next recipe is for smoked meat lovers. By implementing it, you can make an amazing appetizer with a smoky flavor with your own hands. In this case, it is important to determine how much to cook the gherkin chicken before smoking in order to achieve the right balance between the required degree of readiness of the pulp and its elasticity.

Ingredients:

chicken gherkins - 3 pcs.;
salt - 30 g;
pepper - 1 teaspoon;
laurel - 2 pcs.;
clove buds and allspice peas - 3 pcs.;
garlic - 5 cloves;
salt for cooking.

Cooking

The chickens are rubbed with a mixture of salt and pepper and placed in a bag in the refrigerator for a day.
Pour 3 liters of water into the pan, add salt to taste, add spices and garlic, boil for 3 minutes.
They cool the brine to 80 degrees, lay the chickens and reduce the heat to the very maximum.
The chicken is simmered at 60 degrees for 40 minutes, after which it is dried and smoked at 90 degrees for 30 minutes.