Chicken

Maybe it's because I don't eat much meat, but I was really excited to cook half of a chicken this afternoon. Chicken is a great meat for college students on a budget. It's not as expensive per pound compared to beef and pork, it's healthier than the other meats, and it tastes great.
I buy whole chicken at the market, it is cheaper than buying pieces. I use a cleaver to chop it apart, but any kitchen knife will do. Now for what I learned this week about cooking chicken, and a little of what I already know.
I left half a chicken in the fridge for a week. It sat in vinegar, ketchup, mustard, onion salt, etc.(Thank you Max for helping me make this). I didn't have time to bake it until today and it tasted really good. So I decided to blog about cooking chicken.
Anyway, I found that cooking a chicken the oven is usually 375F for around 30-40 minutes, but always cut to the bone to see if there is any blood. If there is pop it back into the oven, or if you're lazy nuke it. If you want a crispy skin make sure the skin faces up from the pan. When the chicken is pretty much done flip the oven on to broil for like 3-5 minutes or until the skin is crispy. This will leave a nice glazed and crispy skin, awesome! I haven't tried a whole chicken but someday I will.
There are other things you can do, like cutting the chicken into medium size pieces, put them into some foil, add some seasonings and/or sauces, some vegetables, then bake away.
I don't like pan frying large pieces because it takes too much time, makes a mess and for things like thighs you will either have a raw inside or really burned outside (I'm sure there is a way to cook it just right, but we are not chefs and I'm presuming you aren't either). However, cutting say chicken breast into thin pieces or small cubes then pan frying isn't so bad. The chicken cooks really fast, a lot faster than baking, so it would be a good thing to do if you were really hungry. Then there's boiling in soup, deep fry and a myriad of flavor combinations out there. So, have fun experimenting with different spices and tastes and cooking styles. If you can't figure it out do what I do and look at some cookbook recipes for chicken and get some ideas of what flavors and seasonings go with each other.