Last Sunday I decided to take the plunge and cross off #72 on my 101 in 1001 list, roast a whole chicken. Much like with the peanut butter, it was so much easier than I thought it would be! Dealing with a whole chicken just seemed so intimidating. Here are the three recipes I loosely followed:
Rotisserie Inspired Roasted Chicken from Taste Love & Nourish
Roast Chicken from Yahoo Shine
Classic Roast Chicken from Cooking Light
For my chicken I used rosemary (4 sprigs), lemon (1), olive oil, butter (2 tbsp) , salt and pepper and garlic (4 cloves). Wash the chicken and then pat dry with a paper towel, make sure to remove the little bag of giblets on the inside of the chicken before washing (discard unless you have other plans for them). I combined the butter, salt and pepper (about 1 tsp of each), and minced garlic together in a small bowl and then rubbed this under the skin of the chicken. I squeezed the lemon over the top of the chicken and placed the rosemary and remaining lemon (after squeezing out the juice) inside the bird. I placed the bird in the dutch oven and then drizzled approximately 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bird and a little under the bird, and then salt and peppered the whole thing. Baked in the oven at 375 F or about 1 hour and 15 minutes, I used a thermometer to test when done. Temperature should be at least 165 F in the thickest parts, test breast and leg. I would recommend checking it at the hour mark.
My thoughts on the project:
- I’m not sure why you need to wash the chicken, but it seems to be the thing to do, make sure to pat it dry very well before doing the other steps
- I do not understand why you have to separate the chicken skin from the bird (other than to put the butter under it), someone said this step is not necessary if you are not eating the skin anyway or do not want to do the butter step
- I did not get any garlic flavor from the garlic/butter rub, but could taste the lemon and rosemary
- I did not tie anything, it fit snugly enough in the dutch oven, so maybe if you use a roasting pan that step would be necessary
- The meat turned out super moist and not dry at all, the leg and wings pretty much just fell off the bone when pulled
- I FORGOT TO TAKE A FINAL PICTURE….I’m a bad blogger. I will have to make it again and be sure to get a final picture next time!
I sliced the whole bird, and we had it with mashed potatoes Sunday. The leftover chicken was used on Monday in a spring salad; it was SO good. This will be something we will make again!
The only other meal we had last week was Cowboy Dinner, it was ok but not something I’m likely to make again. P and I kept it easy this past week, because we hosted a party yesterday. We did a lot of cooking on Friday and Saturday and I will share what we cooked next week!
Have you ever cooked a whole chicken? Any tips?
