roasted chicken

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Whole Chicken

Rinse, remove neck, giblets etc and save for making broth later

Dry the chicken with paper towels

On the inside of the chicken, place the following:

1 lemon cut in half (plus 2 more lemons for basting while roasting)

4-6 sprigs of thyme, rosemary, sage

2 garlic cloves smashed (skin and all)
1 shallot quartered

Rub the outside of the chicken with 2 TB of olive oil or fave oil

Sprinkle with your favorite seasoning such as: Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning OR Trader Joe's Everything Seasoning OR your fave spice OR simply salt & pepper

Place chicken in a roasting pan breast side up (cast iron skillet, stone pan, oven safe glass dish or cake pan)

Roast chicken at 425 for 20 minutes (uncovered!) and then turn the oven down to 375 degrees.  Also place a meat thermometer into the meaty area of a breast by sliding it at a diagonal and NOT touching any bone.  Every 15 minutes, baste the chicken with it's own broth and squeeze a half of fresh lemon over it.  Roast until your thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Roasting my take 45-60 minutes depending on the size of your chix.  Remove from the oven and rest for 20 minutes with a piece of foil draped loosely over the pan.

Enjoy with mashed potatoes or cauliflower & fresh steamed broccoli.  

Bon Appetit!

Chicken Soup prep:

After dinner, pick all the chicken remaining on the bones and set aside.  Save the drippings from the pan, all bones (carcass), neck, giblets and place in a large pot.  Cover the bones, scraped drippings from roasting pan etc with fresh water, cover and place on medium high heat.  When it comes to a boil, turn down to simmer and let the magic happen for a couple hours.  Strain the broth, throw away carcass etc.  Cool and refrigerate broth overnight.  The next day, skim the fat off the broth.  Broth can be used for soup or whatever your heart desires.

created by Char