Oh-So-Simple Roast Chicken
I’ve been a chicken. It’s true. I’ve been hiding from all of you. See, I’m ashamed that I haven’t posted in a gajillion months. I’ve been cooking since I last wrote, but the combo of lots of failed recipes and a crazy busy schedule turned me into a bad blogger.
Antoine’s been telling me to blog. I wake up every morning and he’s staring at me and whispering “Blog! Blog! Blog!” over and over. It’s creepy really. Please tell him to stop.
But I am back and I’m gonna try really hard to blog lots more. It’s the holiday season after all, and that means lots of cooking! First up, let me share this totally moist and delish roast chicken that I made a few weeks ago.
I had never made a whole chickadee. To be honest, chicken isn’t my absolute favorite. But when they’re roasted they look soooo pretty. So I thought, ‘hey, why not try making one?’ Then, I went to the store and lugged a big ‘ol bird home.
It wasn’t very pretty all naked and pasty white. But don’t fret, it only took about an hour to make it look pretty.First, I dried the skin with a paper towel. The key to crispy skin is making sure the chicken is really dry before you slather on the butter. Then, I made Antoine stuff the bird’s booty full of onions, lemon, and garlic. I just couldn’t bear to do it, but he a great job.
After that, I scattered lots of veggies around it and smothered the bird with a delicious concoction of soft butter and thyme. It went into the oven, made the entire apartment smell like heaven, and came out looking freakin’ awesome…. and tasting even better.
Oh-So-Simple Roast Chicken
Adapted From Martha Stewart
- 1 six-pound roasting chicken
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- Salt and pepper
- 4 medium onions, peeled and halved
- 5 red potatoes, halved
- 1 lemon, halved
- 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let chicken stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together soft butter, rosemary and thyme.
Pat the inside and outside of the chicken dry with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Place your chicken in a roasting pan. Stuff (or have your boyfriend stuff) the cavity with the lemon, one onion, and garlic. Spread the soft butter mixture all over the chicken and then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Then, truss your chicken with some butcher twine. I used this handy-dandy video to show me how. The last step is to scatter the remaining veggies around your bird. Place in your oven and roast for an hour to an hour and a half. The skin should be brown and crispy. When you think it’s done, put a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the breast. You want the temp to be 180 degrees. Don’t have a thermometer? Cut into the breast and look for the juices to run clear.
Take the chicken out, let it sit for 10-15 minutes and carve away!
Bethany
Antoine
