Roasted Whole Chicken

I though now that seeing that I had finished and sent out my e-book (if you have received it great...if not you should sign up for my newsletter and you will receive it FREE) I would like to try out one of the methods of cooking. Today it is all about roasting a chicken. Now for a quick family meal without all of the trimmings this is a great thing to do. It needs no supervision just pop it in a wait! I use a big Dutch oven (this is the one we use http://www.nofearentertaining.com/lecreuset.htm) to roast this type of chicken (a deep casserole dish will work just as well). If you really want a nice crispy skin you need to use a roast pan (This is the one we have : http://www.nofearentertaining.com/roastpan.htm). For a quick chicken in the middle of the week cooking it in a Dutch oven dish makes for a nice moist, no hassle meal.

Roasted Whole Chicken

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

5-6 pound chicken
whole head of garlic
2 Tbsp of butter
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (Usually I just sprinkle by sight. A nice light dusting is good)
salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

• Rinse out the chicken and remove the bag of giblets (these can be frozen and used at Thanksgiving or some later date). Place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board. (I once cooked a chicken upside down so now I always check by holding the bird up and pretending it's walking. The breast is on the bottom so I know I need to flip the bird over. This was years ago when we first married but I have never lived it down!!!).
• Mince about 5 cloves of gralic and mix it with the butter.
• Take 5 or 6 cloves of garlic (peeled and cleaned but still whole) and place it the cavity.
• Take the half lemon and place it in the cavity as well.
• Take the butter and garlic mixture and pat onto the birds skin. This will add flavor to the juices as well as make the skin nice and brown.
• Sprinkle poultry seasoning and salt and pepper on the outside of the bird.
• Gently place the chicken in your pot and place in oven.
• Cook uncovered for about 1 3/4 - 2 1/2 hrs or an internal temp of 180 - 185 degrees.

You can use the juices from the pan to make gravy which is great over rice!!! This one is a family favorite.

Happy Entertaining!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/