Roasted Chicken - for you Hena...

Late lunch or Early Dinner
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Roasted chicken, creamy risotto, new potatos with garlic and dill, brussells sprouts. Originally posted May 9 but without the recipe...


One whole chicken - can be skinless or with skin (this one was without skin)
Salt and pepper
Rosemary (fresh or dried)
Thyme (fresh or dried)
Garlic
Butter
Onion, Carrots, Celery and Potatos for sides and added flavor (optional)

I make a very simple roasted chicken and i make it the same way everytime. It's just easy and it tastes good. Here's what i do:

First bath the chicken in a salt and ice bath. You don't have to do this but it helps keep the moisture and makes it more succulent. An hour or so is fine or just put it in there to defrost.

Preheat oven to 350-400.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and rub with butter.
Stuff the cavity with chunks of onion, crushed garlic cloves (not mashed up, just broken), rosemary and thyme (if you use dried just put a sprinkle or two of each, if you use fresh it will be a much more fragrant and stronger flavor just put the whole stick of herbs in there). I usually use dried. If using dry, sprinkle a little on the outside too...just a little.

Put the chicken in a roasting pan. I used to prop the chicken up with balls of tin foil but now have a roasting pan with the bird holder so I use that but use balls of tin foil if you don't have one of those. Put a little water in and the vegetables.

Every half hour or so turn the bird and baste with more butter. It's done in about 1 and 1/2 - 2 hours...more if you have a real big bird. If the inside isn't getting done, cut down the middle (basically on each side of the backbone and finish roasting that way. If you want it to cook faster, you can actually roast it in pieces. I like it whole myself.

It takes a lot of time but it's easy because it's basically cooking itself. You just need to keep turning and basting. Leftovers are great for other stuff. We only eat the legs and thighs roasted style - the breasts and wings are always used for chicken tortilla soup or chicken salad sandwiches.