Roasted Chicken always seemed like an easy recipe, however, it took me a little while to perfect it. This recipe is inspired by two leading ladies of the food world, the legendary Julia Child (who will always be someone who I look to and admire when cooking, she is not always given the credit she deserves...just study her perfectionist ways with mayonnaise) and the very sassy and savory Nigella Lawson (who shared in one of her cookbooks that this was a family staple in her home growing up, something I have also taken to heart). I have taken to making this at least once a week in our home, it is a great meal to do ahead and eat cold, on sandwiches, or just for nibbles. My husband asked me to make it for him to take for a work dinner (with eating paleo, picnics and work dinners/luncheons can be problematic and tricky, we must always plan ahead). Well, needless to say it was a huge success and a recipe I had been planning on sharing with all of you anyway! What amazes is me, is how little people cook anymore and how so often they grab the roaster chickens at the supermarket which are full of who knows what (and don't misunderstand, I understand sometimes in a pinch when you need a quick dinner that is an easy go to, I just worry that we rely on it too heavily). I don't want to see any more generations losing the joy of cooking because of food industrialization, it can be a our friend, but also our enemy, we must be careful to balance both. *(One of the mistakes I think people often make with cooking a roaster chicken is cooking one that is too big, go for a 3.5-5lbs, no more!)
Ingredients:
1-Roaster Chicken (3.5-5 lbs) *I prefer Gerber's Amish Chicken-no antibiotcs, etc.
1-Lemon
1-Stick of Butter *grassfed butter like Kerrysgold
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil for drizzling
6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5-6 gloves of garlic *Optional
1 celery stick cut into 3-4 sticks *Optional
The Rub Ingredients:
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. course black pepper
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. garlic powder
(*optional add any other seasonings to the rub you like)
Directions:
Heat oven to 400
Line a roaster/rack pan with aluminum foil, place rack on top
Place whole roaster chicken on top of rack
Pierce lemon all over with a knife, insert into the cavity of chicken
Insert thyme, rosemary and garlic cloves/celery sticks in cavity around lemon
Cut the stick of butter (you can choose to use less butter) into two, and insert each half up and under top of skin of chicken
Drizzle olive oil all over chicken, then rub the oil to cover the chicken
Now rub, "the rub" all over the chicken
Now place chicken in oven @400 for 30 minutes, uncovered
Then set the oven back to 350, pull the chicken out, cover with aluminum foil
finish baking the chicken for 2 hours
(if it is a 5 pounder, you may need to bake it longer)
Enjoy!
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