Roast Chicken

Every buy one of those roast chickens from the grocery store? They're pretty yummy and very convenient. I found a recipe online from This is Reverb blog. Actually, I got it off of Pioneer Woman, but she had Ryan from This is Reverb on her blog and he made this chicken. Pretty easy and tastes pretty similar, if not exactly the same, as those chickens sitting under the heat light at the grocery store. And it doesn't take too long and isn't difficult to do. Great for a meal or shredding the meat for other dishes.

Roast Chicken

3-4 lb. whole chicken
Onion, lemon, head of garlic, carrot (aromatics)
Canola oil
Salt & pepper
1-2 Tb. of chopped fresh herbs (Sage, rosemary, thyme)
1 Tb. salt
1 tsp. Pepper

Mix herbs, salt, pepper and 2-3 Tb. canola oil together. Pat dry the outside of the chicken. Stuff aromatics into the cavity of the bird after removing any gizzards. Rub the herb mixture over the skin of the bird. Heat oven to 450 degrees and roast chicken for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Once chicken is finished, remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Look at that golden crust. Mmm....

I definitely had to get over the whole, raw chicken thing and sticking my hand in the cavity looking for any gizzards. Yuck. Conveniently, there was a herb packet that already had sage, thyme and rosemary bundled together so I didn't have to buy them all separately. After chopping them all up, there was more than enough herbs, so I saved the rest of the chopped herbs for another time and another bird - who's sitting in the freezer.

If I have the time, and energy, I will definitely do this over buying those roast chickens at the grocery store. Of course, the benefit of those chickens at the grocery store is the time convenience. But this turned out just as well. And bonus, this chicken came with one of those timer things that pop out when the meat is done. Turkeys usually have these too.

The meat was so juicy and tender and the skin was crispy and so yummy. Though the oil did smoke in the oven so the house quickly filled with smoke. I frequently opened up the oven to let some of the smoke out. Subsequently I opened a few windows and doors so the fire alarm wouldn't go off either.

That's the next feat - not to get the smoke to overtake the house. But so yummy and easy. Give it a try!

Enjoy!