For The Tenderest, Most Flavorful Roast Chicken, Make It Vincent Price-Style

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Most of us know Vincent Price as a Hollywood horror icon. The silver screen star has over 200 acting credits to his name, and even if you don't know many of his classic horror roles from the 1950s and 1960s, you probably recognize him from some of his later work, like narrating Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. Price's other passions in life were art and food. He co-authored a number of cookbooks, including several with his second wife, Mary. In their book "A Treasury of Great Recipes," you'll find Price's recipe for Friday Chicken. 

The recipe, originally published in 1965, was recently rediscovered by a Reddit user who, after trying it, said, "I can never roast a chicken any other way again." According to the recipe text, the dish got its name because it was to be prepared on Friday and then enjoyed cold over the weekend. Price's recipe suggests using a capon instead of a standard chicken. Capons are harder to find these days, but they're just roosters that have been castrated before reaching maturity, producing a larger bird with more intramuscular fat and juicier meat.

Friday Chicken is a stuffed recipe, and the standout feature here is how you stuff it. The stuffing is made from bread, egg, parsley, onion, thyme or sage, salt, and pepper. Instead of filling the cavity, the recipe calls for loosening the skin away from the meat with your hands and stuffing that space with the bread mixture. "Incidentally, this is one of the best things we take for lunch or dinner in our mobile home," Price wrote.

What sets Friday Chicken apart from your average stuffed chicken is how the stuffing under the skin enhances its texture. As the Redditor who tried the recipe said, "It keeps it lovely, moist, and tender. And the skin ... Ahh!" Price flaunted his chicken-cooking techniques (along with other recipes) on his short-lived television show "Cooking Price-Wise" back in 1971. You can find some of the episodes on YouTube, but make sure you don't follow Price's lead in terms of proper food handling. In Season one, Episode five, Price demonstrates how to cut up a whole chicken and then proceeds to cross-contaminate much of his kitchen by wiping his hands on his apron, then handling various kitchen equipment.

Price likened food to art more than once during his life, and his Friday Chicken recipe displays a little of that creativity and uniqueness that made him famous. If you're moved to try it yourself, the most difficult part is separating the chicken skin from the meat without tearing it. Start by patting the skin dry, which will help it crisp up more as it cooks. From the opening of the body cavity, gently lift the skin with one hand and slide your fingertips underneath. Gently work your fingertips farther between the skin and meat to create a pocket. You should be able to separate the skin from the breast without tearing if you go slowly enough. Then, the stuffing can be distributed there using a teaspoon.