How to Roast Yourself a Chicken.

I can't tell you how many people have told me they are unsure about how to roast themselves a chicken.

So here's the skinny. And for those of you that think that the roasting of the chicken is only for beautiful tasty skin you are wrong. Roast chicken is moist and flavorful and oh so worth your time. And once you learn the basics its a cinch.


Jess' Roast Chicken.

1 Chicken 4-5lbs is best for a 4-5 person family. If your family consists of more youngins' then adults then you will have plenty of leftovers for soup:)
2 lemons or oranges the aromatics with this is over the top.
Fresh rosemary or thyme or both even better
1 onion.
2-3 cloves of garlic
Butter I use about 1/2 stick but you use whatever your heart and mind tell you. Just make sure you have enough to rub your chicken down inside and out.
Salt and Pepper.

As always feel free to stuff your bird with whatever you have on hand or whatever sounds good to you. This is just one way to do it.

Here are my tips.

1-in the morning or event the night before prepare your chicken by springkling with plenty of salt and pepper. You even want to sprinkle it inside that little chicken. Just get in there with it:)
2- 30minutes to 1 hour before you are going to cook your bird I want you to take it out of the fridge. You want your bird to be pretty near room temp before you put it into the oven. This makes is so it doesn't spend the first 10-20 minutes in the oven getting warmed up.
3-When you pull it out of the oven its time to pamper that bird. Get your softened butter out and rub it not only all over your bird but on the inside and underneath the skin. This will keep your bird moist and make the skin that beautiful color and crispness you are looking for.
4-Then stuff her up. I put a whole orange,half an onion, garlic and 3 sprigs of rosemary inside. Some more orange and garlic on the outside. Sprinkle that dear bird with a bit more salt and pepper and you are darn near ready to throw her in the oven.

You are going to put that bird in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes at 400 degrees. I shoot for about 170 degrees on the bird to determine its done(if you are going to temp it). The Fancy Food Rulers suggest 165degrees for chicken.

When you pull your bird out quickly cover it with foil and let it sit for 10-15 minutes this will insure that all of those flavorful chicken juices get reabsorbed into the meat.

Slice it up and voila...best chicken ever!! And as always I recommend eating happy chickens(whatever that means to you). To me that means grown over at Cackleberry Farms and butchered by yours truly and my friend the farmer.

Don't forget to make stock from that used up bird either it is oh so good for you and your youngins'.

As always let me know if you try the recipe...even if your review isn't great it is still nice to know people are reading this thing:)