After we had been married for a while, like years, I made a roasted chicken dinner one day. My husband said "That's my favorite meal ever", and I thought, why didn't you tell me that you liked roasted chicken? I would have made it sooner! Now this pops up in our house with regularity.
Recipe shamelessly adopted from Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef).
This takes a bit of planning so that the chicken is 1) defrosted and 2) has about 8 hours to sit with the salt and pepper. So start with step 2 in the morning in preparation for a yummy evening.
1. Get a whole chicken. I look for one that is about 4-5 pounds for a couple of reasons, it provides a good amount of food, and it fits in my roasting pan.
2. Rinse it inside and out (take out the giblets and stuff and discard unless you know what to do with them - I'm not into eating organ meat). Pat dry. Salt and pepper the chicken, inside and out.
3. Put it in a mixing bowl or casserole, cover, and let rest in the fridge for 6-8 hours.
Start this part about 2 hours before you want to eat dinner.
3.5. Remove the chicken from the fridge so that it can start to come to room temperature while you do the next steps. Preheat the oven to 375F.
4. Cut enough potatoes for your family into bite-ish sized chunks. (we like roasted potatoes, and I always make a lot, also so that they are available for the next day's chicken pot pie chimichangas). I never bother with peeling the potatoes. It is an extra step, and we like the peel.
5. Peel several garlic cloves. We like garlic, and I tend to use a lot, like maybe a whole head! In order to peel, smash the clove with the flat side of your knife to break up the paper and then take the paper off.
6. Scrub a lemon to get off the waxiness.
7. Put the potatoes, lemon and garlic into a large pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 12 minutes then remove from heat.
7.5. Pat the chicken dry again and rub some olive oil on the outside.
8. Remove the lemon from the boiling water and CAREFULLY stab it several times with a knife and then shove it inside the chicken. You can also shove in some rosemary and garlic cloves (removed from the boiling pot) at this point. Arrange the stuffed chicken in your roasting pan and put in the oven. Set a timer for 45 min.
9. Drain the potatoes and garlic and let steam dry in the strainer for 1-2 minutes. Return to the pot and cover. Hold the lid on tightly and shake the pot in order to break up the outside layer of the potatoes - make it look a little fluffy. This will help them be crisper later.
10. After your 45 min is up, remove the chicken from the oven and the roasting pan and set it on a plate. Toss the potatoes and garlic that is remaining with the potatoes with the fat and juice that has come out of the chicken. If there isn't much fat then you might want to add some olive oil or melted butter to help the potatoes brown and crisp.
Here's where you have a choice. If you really want crispy potatoes, then arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and put into the roasting oven. If you want a more traditional roasted chicken dinner, then spread the potatoes and any other veg you want to roast in the roasting pan, make a dent for the chicken and put it all back in the oven for another 45 min or until the chicken is done.
What other veg could you use here? Quartered onions, chopped carrots, turnips, celery, whatever you like or want your family to eat.
11. Once the chicken is done, carve and serve as desired. You may not want to eat the yummy, crispy skin, but don't throw it away!
12. Eat and enjoy.
13. After dinner, take the remains of the chicken and pick off the meat and save for tomorrow. Put the skin, bones, cartilage, and any other parts that you don't want to eat into the slow cooker and cover with water. Let it go overnight. This will become a chicken stock. You can add vegetables to the pot if you wish. In the morning, strain the bits out and put your stock into the freezer for later use (I usually make spinach and artichoke risotto).
Next up - transforming your leftover chicken and veg into something that seems like an entirely new dinner, not leftovers!
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2 comments:
Thanks for all the tips. I've only ever stuck a whole chicken in the crock pot and let it go. I'm excited to try it oven roasted. And never thought about making the stock in a slow cooker. That just seems like less work than simmering it on the stove..
The last time I did a whole chicken, I used a technique I got out of Cook's Illustrated -- somewhere between crock-pot and roasted. The idea is to brown the chicken first on all sides in oil in a deep pot, then seal the pot with foil and the lid, stick it in the oven and don't touch it for a couple of hours. It "steams" in its own drippings, no other liquid, so it's not quite a braise. The skin isn't brown and crispy, but it's done in the same time as a roast, is a bit more foolproof to get properly done without overdone, and stays very moist and tender, plus the drippings give you a nice liquid for gravy. I think it's going to be my go-to chicken method from here on out.
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