Sunday Roast Chicken

I have to be honest; I swiped the idea for part of this recipe from an America's Test Kitchen Recipe on herb roasted turkey. It translated beautifully though. Also - I'd give you measurements for the herbs, but I don't have them. I went out to my poor forlorn herb pots and just grabbed what was still alive after several below freezing nights.Also - the amounts below are meant for two people and leftovers. Edit, add, adjust as needed.


Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Mix of fresh herbs (I used parsley, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme)
2 additional sprigs of rosemary - One minced, one whole
1 lemon - zested and quartered
3 cloves garlic
Olive oil
S&P
red pepper flakes
1 medium onion
1 large Yukon Gold Potato
2 carrots


Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.


1st I tossed the mix of herbs, the garlic cloves, some S&P, and 2-3 tbls of olive oil into my mini processor and whizzed the mix into a paste. Set aside. 


Cut up the onion, potato and carrots into about 3/4 inch chunks. Set aside 1/4 onion. Put the rest in the bowl and add S&P, red pepper flakes, lemon zest (to taste), a couple tbls olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle salt on the top. Set aside. - I find that if I mix salt in with cut potatoes too early, they get way too watery.


Rinse and pat dry your chicken. Pull out the giblets. (Unless I'm making giblet gravy, I boil them up for my oh so grateful dog.) Put your chicken into your roasting pan or onto a sheet pan if you have one.


Now separate the skin of the chicken from the meat by carefully sliding your fingers/hand between the meat and the skin and breaking any membranes you run into. Separate the skin all the way down to the thighs, being careful not to tear the skin. Then prepare the chicken as you normally would by folding the wings under.


Put about a tbls of your herb paste into the cavity and rub around. Next divide the remainder between the two breasts of the chicken, under the skin, and rub into the breast and thigh meat.


Now stuff the cavity with remaining rosemary sprig, the reserved onion, and 1-2 quarters of the lemon. If you like lemon, like I do, squeeze those lemon quarters over the top of the chicken before stuffing them into the cavity. Tie the legs together with twine if you  have it. If you don't have twine, like I frequently don't, cut a  little slit in those two little flaps of skin in front of the cavity, cross the legs and stick each leg end through the opposite slit. Hopefully that makes sense. :)


Next rub the top of the chicken generously with olive oil and salt and pepper liberally.


Quickly toss your veggies again and then spread in an even layer around the chicken.


Throw that sucker in the oven!


As for timing, I always wing it. You're shooting for about 160-165 in the breasts and 170-175 in the legs/thighs. If you have an instant read thermometer, start checking the bird after 45/60 minutes depending how big the bird is. Don't check too often though, cuz you lose a ton of heat every time you open the oven. You do want to reach in every 30 or so to move the veg around so they get evenly browned and crisp.


At the end you should have a beautifully juicy, browned, herbal bird with crispy, delicious veggies. Enjoy!


End note - I had some trouble with my onions when I made this. They got SUPER caramelized. While I like that, I know not everyone does. If you don't, either leave them out or don't add them to pan until about 30 minutes into cooking time.