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Locally Sourced Quality Food

Roasted Chicken Back To The Basics

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Get Back to the Basics with a Roasted Chicken

While cooking a complex masterpiece attributed to a top chef is very fulfilling, mastering the simple preparation of a basic meal can be even more rewarding and certainly just as delicious.  Whole chickens are economical and widely available creating opportunities to practice and perfect this dish.

Here are a few hints for roasting a chicken:

  1. Don’t rinse the meat before you roast it. In fact, it’s best to pat it completely dry-inside and out.  The drier the chicken, the crisper the skin will be.Roasted Chicken
  2. Use more salt than you think you need. Generously salt the exterior AND the inside of the bird.  Salt helps the meat retain its juice.
  3. Tie the legs. Truss the chicken by simply tying the drumsticks together with kitchen twine.  This will help keep the dark meat moist.
  4. Leave it alone. Don’t keep opening the oven to check on it or baste it.
  5. Allow it to rest. Resting gives the cellular structure of the meat time to absorb the juices more evenly.  A chicken should rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Simple Recipe for Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1 TBS Whole Chicken – 4 or 5 lbs
  • 2 to 3 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 large bunch of fresh thyme
  • 1 lemon cut in halves
  • 1 head of garlic, sliced in half crosswise

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°
  2. Remove any giblets from inside the chicken and pat the chicken dry. Make sure to dry the inside of the bird as well.  You can discard the giblets or keep them to make gravy.
  3. Coat the exterior of the bird with olive oil and then generously salt and pepper the outside and inside of the bird.
  4. Place the thyme, both lemon halves, and both garlic halves inside the bird.
  5. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
  6. Place the bird into a roasting pan breast side up.
  7. Lower the heat to 400° F and roast the chicken for one hour.
  8. After one hour, check the temperature of the bird with a meat thermometer. Once the thickest part of the meat reaches 165° F, its done.  If less than 165° F, leave it roast longer and check it every 10 minutes until done.
  9. Rest the chicken for 15 minutes before carving it.

Enjoy your delicious meal with a side of roasted carrots, potatoes, or both!  Your family will think you slaved over this meal all afternoon long.

Select the finest, freshest ingredients from TBS

No matter what’s on your menu for tonight let our team at The Butcher Shop put together the perfect ingredients for your meal.  Stop by or give us a call to place an order.  Our locally sourced meats and fresh seafood selections will make any dish absolutely delicious.