Sunday, December 5, 2010

Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken - such a basic thing, but not always so easy to make. I know I was a little overwhelmed by a whole bird at first, but now I fear no more! The recipe below works really well for me and then yields enough leftover chicken to save, freeze, and use in future recipes. Some of my favorite uses of chicken leftovers are chicken lo mein, chicken rosti (potato-chicken-egg pancakes ~ I'll have to post that recipe soon!), and chicken mushroom pasta.


ROASTED CHICKEN

6 pound whole chicken
olive oil
1 ½ Tablespoons of dried herbs*
salt
pepper

·      Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
·      Remove giblets and neck from inside the chicken.
·      Rinse chicken and pat dry.
·      Brush chicken with olive oil (or rub oil with your fingers).
·      Sprinkle with herbs, salt, and pepper.
·      Place bird, breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan.
·      Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180 degrees.
·      Depending on your oven and the size of your chicken, it should take about 25 minutes per pound to cook.

*Use what you have on hand. Some recommendations that go well with poultry ~ poultry seasoning mix, thyme, sage, rosemary. If you have fresh herbs available, increase the amount that you’re using. A good rule of thumb is to use a 1:3 dried:fresh ratio.

Convection oven variation

A few years ago I got a convection oven. My favorite way to use it is making roasted chicken. The skin comes out really crispy and the meat is really moist. If you have a convection oven, decrease the oven heat to 325 degrees, and decrease the cooking time to about 20 minutes per pound.

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