Roasted Chicken

 

 For me this is an easy Sunday dinner. It smells amazing and everyone thinks you worked really hard and for a long time to make this amazing chicken. Also it can be transformed in to so many things as leftovers like chicken stock, chicken soup, chicken salad sandwiches, or even chicken enchilada's just to name a few! I am going to teach you how to get up close and personal with a chicken (you could also do this with a turkey) So there are some not so pretty raw chicken pictures. The end result is totally worth it though I promise.

 

 

 Here is what you will need to get started

 

 

Take everything that is in the cavity of the chicken and discard it unless there is something you like to make with the extra parts. Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water and blot dry with a paper towel. Then set the chicken aside and wash your hands. Make sure you wash your hands after every time you touch the raw chicken.

 

 

 

Put the butter, salt, and pepper into a bowl.

 

Then zest the lime, lemon, and orange into the bowl.

 

 

 

Cut the head of garlic in half. Cut the onion in half then into sixths. Next cut all of the zested citrus fruit into quarters.

 

 

Now stand the chicken up exposing the cavity but keeping one hand clean. Sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper.

 



 

Now stuff with as much of the cut fruit, onion and garlic as you can there will be leftovers depending on the size of your chicken. I always make sure to get all of the garlic in.

Save the left over fruit for later.

 

 

Now being very careful not to tare the skin put your hand between the chicken skin and the breast meat. go as far down as you can and go to the sides to separate the skin on the legs as well. what you are doing is creating a place for the butter to go. Now put a 1/3 of the butter under each side of the breast skin and distribute as evenly as possible. With the remaining 1/3 of butter rub it all over the out side of the chicken. I tuck in the wings so they wont burn. The butter will make the skin oh so crispy and seal in all the juices to ensure you have a very moist and juicy chicken. Now place the chicken on a roasting rack inside of a roasting pan. Put chicken stock in them bottom of the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan into a 325 degree oven for about 1 hour, at about 50 minutes in I like to check the temperature. Remove the chicken when your thermometer reads 170 degrees set aside to rest.

 Gravy recipe to follow.

 

 

Roasted Potatoes

with a

Lemon Herb Sauce

 

 



 Cut Potatoes into quarters then put them in to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Make sure to cover your pot until the water is boiling. Once the water comes to a boil add 1 tablespoon of salt. and let boil for about 5 more minutes. Drain potatoes.

 

Put olive oil on to a baking sheet and toss the potatoes in the oil, salt and pepper. Now place the potatoes into a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. About half way through  cooking I like to turn  the potatoes to ensure even browning.

 



 

While the potatoes are cooking I like to make a sauce to toss them in when they get out of the oven. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon into a small bowl or cup. Pour in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Chop parsley and add it to the bowl now whisk together.

 

 

 Take the potatoes out of the oven, put them in a bowl, and toss them with the dressing. Now transfer them to a serving bowl.

 

 

Gravy

 

OK so remember all that butter on and in the chicken? Well a lot of it is in the roasting pan now and has settled at the top. It has been deliciously flavored and is perfect for sauteing garlic in for your gravy. So that is exactly what we are going to do with it. Use a spoon and skim some butter off the top and put it in to a pan on med/high heat.



 

Either mince or grate one clove of garlic and add it to the butter. saute for a few minutes.

 

Now add white wine and juice from half of an orange. Let it reduce for a 5 minutes and then add the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan.



 

Take corn starch and mix with water then slowly whisk it in to the pan. It will thicken up pretty quickly then remove from the heat.

 

 



 

Ingredients:

 

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken

1 cube of butter

1 lemon

1 lime

1 orange

1 onion

1 head of garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt (plus 1/4 teaspoon for the cavity)

1/4 teaspoon pepper (plus 1/4 teaspoon for the cavity)

2 cups of chicken stock

 

 

Roasted potatoes

2 pounds of potatoes

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

 

Dressing

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

The zest of 1/2 lemon

The juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup chopped parsley

 

Gravy

2 tablespoons of butter from the drippings

all of the drippings from the roasting pan

1 clove of garlic

juice of 1/2 an orange

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons of corn starch

1/4 cold water

salt and pepper to taste