First of all, I’d like to apologize to my chicken for exploiting it this way. A poor, naked chicken always looks a little naughty. Or not, could just be me. Moving on now.
This 6-7 ish pound chicken is the base for three upcoming meals. Yay for endless chicken!
The best thing about a roasted chicken is that you can season it 20 different ways and it always tastes yummy.
I prefer fresh rosemary tucked under the skin and inside the cavity, but alas, Winter hath killed my herbs. I need an indoor window garden. Watching my plants croak was my welcome to non-Texas weather.
Some of the leftover chicken will become part of an egg-chicken-onion Naan sandwich thing that my husband learned how to make last time he was in Iraq. The remaining chicken, along with the carcass of my innocent bird, will be turned into Chicken and Barley soup. If I’m really stingy I can probably pull a chicken pot pie from this as well.
Endless Roasted Chicken (Warning: the following recipe is very loose, go with what you like. The key is in the cooking.)
1 huge whole chicken. I try to get one at least 7 pounds
1 med-large onion, cut into wedges
Carrots, cut cork size (however many you’d like)
4 or 5 large potatoes, cut into largish squares
1 cup beef or chicken broth
5-6 garlic cloves, minced, diced, whatever
1 stick butter, sliced into pats
Herbs: again, use what you like, don’t be stingy. (Oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, they all work for me)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash chicken and pat dry. Season cavity with salt, pepper, wedge of onion (if I do a Rosemary chicken, I like a wedge of lemon). Rub olive oil over entire chicken, season to your liking. I don’t put salt on the outside because my mom said it dries out the chicken and what mom says goes. Gently slide a finger between the skin and the breast, making a pocket. Insert herbs and 2 pats of butter under skin of each breast. Ignore chicken.
Add potatoes, onions, carrots (and any other vegetables you’d like) to the bottom of a deep roasting pan. Add garlic and broth. Season with same herbs used on chicken. Drop remaining pats of butter randomly, or in a pretty little design if that makes you happy, all over vegetables.
Breast side up, add chicken (on a roasting rack if you have one) to pan.
Cook on 450 degrees for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 375, and continue roasting for an additional hour to an hour and 40 minutes. The chicken is done when the leg wiggles freely in its joint and when the juices run clear from the thigh when you prick it and from the cavity when you tilt the bird. A thermometer inserted into the lower meaty part of the thigh should register 170°F. I like to cheat and use a chicken with a popper. It makes life easier.
When chicken is done, remove and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes to let the juice set. Stir vegetables and return roasting pan (sans chicken) to the oven to crisp up a bit while the chicken rests.
Pig out.
This is probably the most ridiculously least technical recipe I have ever written. This is how I give my girlfriends directions for cooking. No wonder they’re all so happy I started a blog. It forced me to write recipes like a grown up. This is my rebel recipe, but danged if it isn’t awesome, and pretty foolproof to boot.
This is the recipe I have used for years. I always end up with a tender, super juicy and flavorful chicken. At least, that’s what my very smart husband tells me.
Catching Pennies 