In the Kitchen

February 25, 2009, 7:32 pm

Roasting a whole chicken

You can gauge the quality of a restaurant and chef by the quality of their roasted chicken. It’s a very simple dish, but I’m sure we can all attest to the fact that it can go very, very wrong. A chicken breast so dry you can barely swallow or the dreaded under-cooked chicken? Yep, we’ve all experienced these mishaps.

Don’t be scared if you’ve never roasted your own chicken, it really is very simple. And remember to give yourself a break; it takes practice.

There are two cookbooks in particular that give good advice. One is The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten. With only a few ingredients and a recipe that is simple to follow, we highly recommend her cookbook (it’s in my mothers top 10 list). Another book, which is completely different from Ina’s is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (another top 10 cookbook). The reason my mother asked me to include this tome, is because it discusses technique in depth and offers vegetable suggestions and wine pairings. This recipe is definitely more complicated; it’s based on French technique. Julia’s cookbook would be good for the person looking to really dive into cooking.

Roasting your own whole chicken is economical not only because you get multiple meals out of it, but also because whole chickens are less expensive to begin with. And cooking at home allows you to be in control of the ingredients; therefore keeping on track towards your goals.

Ingredients

• Chicken (try to buy hormone free and cage free)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil
• Vegetables of your choosing
• Herbs if you like
• Roasting pan

Preparation

So here we go…

Cooking times depend a lot on where you live and what type of oven you work with. A 3-6 lb chicken can cook anywhere from 1 – 1 3/4 hours. To take some of the guessing out of the equation, use an instant read thermometer. Chicken must reach 185˙ degrees.

Preheat oven to 425˙ degrees.

Rinse chicken under cold running water, pat dry with a paper towel. (We’ve noticed lately that there aren’t giblets inside chickens any longer. I wonder why? I use to cook the liver and heart for my dog Stella. If your chicken has them, set aside for a later time.)

Salt and pepper (freshly ground) the inside of the chicken.

Brush olive oil on the outside, then salt and pepper the outside. Place the chicken in a roasting pan.

Note: We don’t tie the chicken legs together but we do tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Don’t sweat it if you don’t know how to this.

Roast at 425˙ for 1 hour, then baste chicken with the juices. At this point, you want to look at the color of the chicken, listen to the spattering sounds and fill your nose with the aroma. Do your senses tell you its finished or does it need to cook longer? If you know it hasn’t finished, check on it at 15-minute intervals. To be assured of a cooked chicken, use an instant read thermometer; when it’s at 185˙ it’s done.

Let sit for at least 5 –10 minutes before carving.

Here’s how we prepared our chicken the other night. We stuffed it with lemon and roasted onions and potatoes along with it.

We cut the lemon into quarters and placed inside the chicken cavity. The onion was cut into thick crosswise slices and placed on the bottom of the roasting pan (they will act as a rack for the chicken to sit on).

The fingerling potatoes were cut lengthwise and placed around the chicken. As the chicken cooked we used the juices to baste the potatoes and onions.

Our chicken was only 3 lbs and it took approximately 1 hr 20 minutes to cook. It was dee-lish and it fed us for two days/three meals.

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