Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken

A good roast chicken is always satisfying. But a great roast chicken is out of this world. Don’t settle for bargain chickens from the supermarket; may be cost-effective, but they’re seriously lacking in flavor. “Whenever possible, buy the best quality chicken you can find”. Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole Chicken
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 large carrots
  • 2 large ribs of celery (can use the ends and leaves)
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Thyme
  • 1/4 tsp Rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp Sage
  • 2 tbsp Canola Oil

Directions:

  1. Thaw chicken overnight in fridge. Before you put the chicken in the oven, give it time to come to room temperature, 30 to 45 minutes will do the trick. Taking the chicken directly from the fridge to the oven will increase its roasting time and cook it unevenly.
  2. Preheat oven to 425F, continue while oven heats up.
  3. Remove chicken giblets (it there are any), pat dry (there is no need to rinse the chicken, this just spreads chicken germs un-necessarily). A damp chicken makes for limp, soggy skin.
  4. Half lemon and place inside chicken cavity.
  5. Drizzle chicken with canola oil, rub to coat evenly.
  6. Sprinkle chicken with: Salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, sage.  Not only does a nice coating of salt make chicken taste good, it helps render the skin a crackling golden-brown.  Don’t forget the back and inside of the chicken.
  7. There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. Pile them in the bottom of roaster pan, place chicken on top of vegetables with breast side up.
  8. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
  9. Cover Roasting pan with lid and roast the chicken for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning.
  10. Remove Roasting pan lid 20 minutes before done to brown the top of chicken.
  11. Remove the chicken when the internal temp of 165F (insert your thermometer right between the breast and the thigh), transfer to a platter and cover with aluminum foil and a tea towel for about 20 minutes.
  12. Prepare gravy.