We just completed Holy Week, finishing the week off by celebrating Resurrection Sunday. I don't know what your family Easter traditions are like, but I grew up where we cooked a ham with sides. I have found that as an adult I am not a huge-ham-fan. And that's okay (sorry to disappoint, Dad). Here's why I ended up going "chicken" for the celebratory meal instead.
I've had a whole chicken in my freezer for at least a year now. I kid you not. Part of me feels like it's closer to two years that it has been chillin' (no pun intended) in the back of the freezer. In the midst of this COVID-19 social isolation/stay at home order, my housemates and I decided that if we couldn't be celebrating with our family's and close friends in our usual traditions, we'd have our own Easter meal. The chicken roast was on!
So after combing the internet (aka Pinterest), I combined a few concepts from two different roasting recipes, plus utilized the "turkey training" I received during Thanksgiving 2019, and voila!
Here's what you'll need:
Supplies:
- roasting pan
- roasting bag (the plastic ones, for turkey's)
- cheese cloth (optional)
- baster
Ingredients:
- A whole chicken
- 1 lemon (2 purposes)
- 1/4 cup of butter (so 1/2 a stick)
- 1 head of garlic
- fresh rosemary (4-6 sprigs)
- tablespoon of olive oil
- fresh thyme (or dried!)
- salt & pepper
Steps:
1. Make sure you've defrosted your chicken completely, then let sit out in room temp for about 30 minutes prior to cooking (I shouldn't have stuck mine in the fridge upon successful defrosting in the sink.) Butter should be at room temp.
2. Wash your chicken (rinse with water, use hand to "scrub"/"rub"). Pat dry (with paper towel). Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. IF your chicken still has the gizzards inside, remove them; IF you can, take out the neck.
4. Make a rub out of the butter - use butter, 1 minced clove of garlic, 1 stems worth of rosemary leaves, bit of salt, bit of pepper, and zest from the lemon.
5. Rub the butter spread on the chicken, covering the chicken in its entirety (use it ALL the rub).
6. Cut the lemon in half (same one that was zested), and cut a few thin slices (3-4). Set the slices said.
7. Cut the head of garlic in half and peel skin. Place the larger half in the larger cavity, the smaller in the neck cavity.
8. Stuff the larger half of the lemon in the larger cavity and the smaller half in the neck cavity. Garnish the outside with lemon slices and sprigs of fresh rosemary.
9. OPTIONAL: Once completely covered (even underneath) in the butter rub and stuffed with lemon and garlic, cover the entire chicken with cheese clothe. (Drizzle with olive oil to keep from sticking to the chicken).
10. Place the wrapped chicken in a roasting bag and seal. Place in roasting pan.
11. Put it in the oven and Bake for 1-1.5 hours, OR until inside temp reaches 165-175 degrees. (Mine took closer to 2 hours.)
NOTE: I found that after my timer went off the first time, the cheese cloth had stuck to the chicken, so I took the baster and squeezed the chicken juice/melted butter over everything before popping it back in the oven to get the internal temp up. Repeated this at the next check when it wasn't hot enough.
The chicken was moist and flavorful, but if you like crunchy skin, this is not the recipe for you.
The juice was AMAZING and I did not use flour/cornstarch to thicken it for a gravy, I like it "all natural". Let the chicken sit for a few minutes and then carve away!
Bon appetit.
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