Perfect Roast Chicken
I’m always looking for a great roasted chicken recipe and I’ve tried many good ones over the years but they were always somewhat lacking. I tried one this week that’s a winner. This will be my standard roasted chicken recipe from now on.
It’s from The Foodie Handbook by Pim Techamuanvivit and she based her recipe on the one from Simply French by Patricia Wells. I tweaked it a bit as well and it was fantastic. Even the leftovers were amazingly good.
Ingredients:
One 3 ½ – 4 ½ pound Organic Pastured Chicken
3 tbs. organic butter
1 – 2 tablespoons Celtic sea salt & some cracked pepper
Optional ingredients:
1 organic onion
1 – 2 heads of garlic
One lemon
Leek tops
Sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425°.
Rinse the chicken and dry it with paper towels. Take the butter – you can melt it if it’s too cold – and rub it all over the chicken. Then sprinkle the salt and a bit of pepper and rub that in too. Make sure you get some salt inside the chicken as well.
The optional ingredients are used to stuff the bird. I used leek tops and some springs of fresh rosemary and thyme. They both really easy to grow, and great for cooking. Then take some kitchen twine and tie the legs and wings close to the body. This will make it easier to flip the chicken while cooking.
I used a glass roasting pan with a small flat rack. You can use an angled one as well if you have it. Put the chicken breast side down on the rack, in your pan and put it into the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take your pan out and baste and flip the chicken to breast side up. Cook for another 30 minutes. Then baste and flip breast side down for another 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your chicken (10 minutes for a 3 ½ pound chicken, 20 for 4 ½ ). Baste again and turn it breast side up for the last ten minutes. Total cooking time is 1 hour and 20 (or 30) minutes
You will know when your chicken is done by poking the top of your knife into the thick part of the thigh. When the juices run clear it’s done. Cover loosely and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. It was a perfect chicken. The skin was crispy, the breast meat moist and the rosemary and thyme added great flavor. Enjoy!
Read more, great Pennywise Platter Thursday posts here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2010/03/pennywise-platter-thursday-41.html
Read more great, Real Food Wednesday posts here: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/03/real-food-wednesday-33110.html