Servings: 4-6 servings
Prep Time: 2 hours
inspired by Ina Garten
Ingredients
1 Chicken (5-6 lbs)
1 head Garlic
1 bunch Thyme, fresh
1 Lemon, quartered
2 Tbsp Butter, melted
3 tsp Salt, kosher
2 tsp Black Pepper
3 each Carrot
1 each. Onion
3 stalks Celery
Lets Get Cooking
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Rough chop the carrot, onion, and celery and place in the bottom of a roasting pan.* This will help regulate the heat and collect the drippings.
- Chicken Prep: Remove chicken from package, and take out giblets. Rinse off in sink and pat dry. Drying the skin will allow it to get nice and crispy!
- Place dry chicken onto of vegetables in roasting pan, now time to fill. I start with my lemon cut in quarters, then add the head of garlic sliced “hamburger” style so all cloves are exposed. And queen Ina says about 20 sprigs of fresh time- but whatever you have on hand.
- Now we are going to truss the chicken with some butchers twine. A fancy term of tying the legs together to create even cooking. I usually squeeze all the stuffings in while gathering the legs and tie into a bow for easy removal. Then we will tuck the wings under to ensure they wont burn.
- Melt your butter and using a pastry brush bush onto the skin. Once lathered in butter generously season with salt and pepper.
- Place in middle rack of oven and allow to roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Use an internal thermometer if you have one (165 degrees) , or the old school method of the juices running clear.
- Allow to rest, so juices can redistribute and enjoy 🙂
Chicken Stock Recipe: If you are planning to use the carcass for some homemade chicken stock here is what you will do.
- Remove meat from the carcass and set aside (it is okay to leave a little meat on the bones to flavor the stock.) Place bones in stock pot and add in a roughly chopped onion, 3 stalks celery, and 3-4 carrots, 2 bay leaves and fresh parsley, and 8-10 whole peppercorns.
- I leave the stuffing in the carcass that we used to roast the chicken so the garlic, lemon, and thyme will infuse the stock also.
- Fill pot just enough to cover the bones and vegetables and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once boiling you will reduce the heat to medium/low and allow to simmer on your back burner for 5 hours.
- – keep a pot of warm water ready to go, incase you need to replace some of the water. we want to keep it hot so it will not slow down the process. You are going to want skim the “scum” (white foam that sits on the top of the pot.) every 15 minutes for the first hour, and then every half hour for the final 4 hours.
- Once stock has finished cooking you are going to use a fine mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth, and strain the liquid into a heat safe container
- If using for a homemade soup right then and there- you can add stock back to stove and cook.
- For cooling, we want to take this down to 40 degrees, Place heat safe bowl in an ice bath and continually stir to cool down the stock properly. Once properly cooled you can place in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Chef Notes
- Any pan will do, something with higher sides so juices can collect in the bottom. Even a dutch oven will work!
- Make sure to clean out your sink the moment you are finished rinsing off the bird. We don’t like to play around with chicken germs!!
- Make sure to taste a little piece of the crispy skin when you remove chicken from oven (chefs kiss)
- This chicken comes out so flavorful and juicy- perfect to use in a soup, chicken salad, or chicken potpie!!
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