Roasted Chicken

I'm sure we all have seen the ridiculous Perdue commercial regarding "roaster phobia." Where the house wife is just too terrified to cook her family a whole chicken. Oh my! Whatever will she do?! Certainly not buy a Perdue roaster in that weird plastic bag you are supposed to cook it in no, no, no.  People may have their theories on organic chicken, and say what you will, but I don't think anyone in their right mind could deny the difference in taste. The happier, well treated bird is tender, sweet, and not pumped so full of hormones that it looks like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the poultry world. And yes I know, pay checks are tight, but I fully believe the few extra dollars are worth it.  For everyones sake (ours and the chicken's).  A whole chicken is a blank canvas just waiting for you to paint it with your favorite flavors. My go-to favorite is garlic, rosemary, and lemon.  You could use any combo of spices or herbs that suit your fancy.  In this recipe I just went with what I had on hand, garlic and lemon. This dinner is gonna taste like your grannie was slaving away all day to give you a tasty home cooked meal. Really it will only take about 2 1/2 hours. 2 hours and 15 minutes of that unattended. Lets make some magic!

There she is. I removed the pop up timer because I find they tend to be useless and unreliable.

Slide your fingers up under the skin, being very careful not to tear it. Get all of your seasonings under there salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic. Its important to flavor the actual breasts themselves not just the skin on top. Here I put thin lemon slices under the skin also. It adds great flavor and makes the bird look great when you pull it out of the oven.  Sage leaves work wonderfully for this also. 

Next you'll want to get the legs tucked in so they don't dry out. You could tie them with kitchen string or just cut holes in the big chunk of extra fat by the cavity and push the leg from the opposite side through.  

See? It works very well. Tuck the wings under the breasts so they don't burn. 

Ok, she's all tucked in and ready to go. Next just slather it with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.   Add a bit more salt than you would think to. It helps make the skin crispy and delicious.  Pour a cup of water into the pan, it pushes the pan juices along into a tasty gravy. Pop her in a 350 oven, and go enjoy a beverage (or three) and maybe your favorite tv show. 

And there you have it, 2 1/2 hours later you have dinner (depending on the size of the bird, this one was 6 1/2 lbs.) Make sure you let the bird rest for at least 15 minutes so all of the juices stay in the meat, and not all over your cutting board. Resist the urge to cut at all costs and you will be handsomely rewarded with a tender, juicy chicken. 

After the torture of waiting or preparing your side dishes, grab a knife ( a sharp one) find the back bone with  your finger and cut along side of it to remove the breast. 

Cut the skin between the leg and breast, cutting downwards to remove the leg.  The thigh is right below the leg and you might have to flip the bird over to cut out that section. 

Bada bing, bada boom roasted chicken. 

See, no need for "roaster phobia" this was simple, and delicious and no reason not to have it for dinner tonight. To go with it I just boiled a pot of potatoes and carrots drained them and coated them in salt, pepper, and olive oil. You could have made it even easier and roasted some veggies in the pan with the chicken. The fella only got green beans, but don't feel bad I ate his potatoes for him. Just a side note, sorry about some of these photos. I was trying to get the chicken done before I lost daylight. But, that is a difficult challenge in the dead of winter. The fella did the best he could as stand in photographer. I obviously needed both hands. Enjoy!