roasted chickenCaleb once told me that he loved to roast birds. For the flavour, and as a great way to serve a warm hearty meal to a small group.I didn't know what he meant until I moved to Oakland from college, and I had a kitchen to cook in. My Uncle Jim bought me a cookbook or two and I discovered myself the power of roasted chicken (14 february, for example). That Amy enjoyed it made it a frequent dish.
This recipe is based heavily on his gift of Barbara Kafka's book Roasting, a Simple Art. I think the best thing I read there was "This is not astrophysics. Have Fun."
So basically, take a whole chicken. Clean it out. Save the innards for soup if you know what's good for you. Coat the cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Inside the chicken's cavity, put a halved lemon, some garlic, and a few tablespoons of butter.If you save the carcass, you can use it to make great chicken noodle soup.Put the chicken in a roasting pan. Stick it in the oven @ 500 degrees F. Probably 40 or 50 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. The recipe mentions 5 lbs. chickens in the over for 50 or 60 minutes; Farmer Joe's gives me mostly 3 lbs. chickens (that are free range and organic - healthy) so I do about 35-40 minutes.
Halfway through cooking, I stick some onions and carrots in the pan, like I seen my mama do when she roasts. And damn the gravy that came out of that buttery bird, mixed in with all them roasted up chicken fatted carbonized veggies is like pure sin!
recipes | food | mea corpus | life
justin's links by justin hall: contact