Roast Chicken

No one has ever shown me how to roast a chicken, so this is what I came up with on my own. I loooooove roast chicken, so this is a staple in our house (once a month anyway, I do a different supper every night of the month).

Preheat oven to 375F, wash and pat dry a 3-4 pound whole, fresh (or thawed) chicken.

Coarsely chop 1 med/large onion, and peel & crush one whole bulb of garlic.

In a small bowl, combine approx. 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp kosher salt, 2 tsp parsley, and 1 tsp each of sage, rosemary and thyme (it came to me in a song one day!). I never actually measure anything, though. Mix well.

Grease the bottom of a roast pan with butter, and/or drizzle with olive oil.

Take the oil mixture and rub it with your fingers all over the chicken, making sure to get the salt evenly all over it (the salt tends to sink to the bottom of the bowl). Place the chicken in the roast pan, and stuff about 1/3 of the garlic and onions into the bird, and the rest put alongside the chicken in the pan.



Put the lid on the roast pan, and cook for an hour (or 20 mins for each pound).

Remove lid, baste the chicken, and then cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes, or until internal temperature at the thickest part is at least 165F.



*You can also add chopped (or mini) potatoes that have been covered in olive oil and seasoning salt (or whatever herbs you like, I prefer parsley and rosemary) to the roast pan with the chicken at the beginning, and use those as a side dish!

Don't forget to save the bones so you can make chicken stock! Simmer the bones and any remaining bits in a stock pot for 24 hours, then add parsley about 10 mins before it's done. Strain when it's ready and then you will have a lovely, healthy stock to use for other meals! I usually wait until I have 2 carcasses so I can simmer 2 at a time.