Rainy Day Basics: Roasted Chicken

When it rains, it pours.

That’s what ‘they’ say.  And after the past two weeks, I’m afraid I have to agree with ‘them.’

Due to whatever viruses managed to creep into my home, we have been dealing with major amounts of bodily fluids stemming from all ends of the human anatomy.  It has been the most consistently stressful time we’ve all had in a very long time.

As a result, I haven’t cooked a thing, much less had time to write.  We’ve somehow survived on major amounts of coffee, mushroom and spinach omelets, Twizzlers, oatmeal (for the kiddies) bananas and on occasion, Grey Goose vodka (for me).   Sad.  So very sad.

As the madness steadily exhausted itself, I simultaneously entertained the idea of cooking again.  Understanding that time (and energy) was of the essence, I decided to cook a low-stress, yet comforting Roast Chicken.

So enveloping.  So reliable.  So versatile.  So delicious.  So lovely.

If you are restricted to the house for a couple of hours on a rainy day, this is the perfect meal to make.  Once you’ve made the chicken, you can use the meat in a soup, make a quesadilla or whip up a chicken salad sandwich.  It really is worth the 15 minutes of prep-time.

Roast Chicken:

3-4 pound chicken (whole bird – remove the innards)
1 onion, quartered
3 celery stalks
1 head of garlic, halved (cut through the cloves)
1 lemon cut in half
2 tsp olive oil
1 tablespoon of rosemary
1 ½ + 1/4 cup salt
1 ½ pepper

Directions:

In a large, deep bowl, create a brine by dissolving ¼ cup of salt with enough water to completely submerge your chicken.  Place the chicken in your bowl and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.  If you can soak your chicken overnight, even better.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove your chicken from the brine and dry your chicken (I use paper towels).  Once dry, place your chicken on a rack in a large roasting.  If you do not have a roasting pan, you can use a couple of stalks of celery to create a ‘rack’ on the bottom of any sizeable bake ware.

Stuff the inside of your chicken with the lemon, garlic and onions.   Place the chicken in your bake ware.  Rub the chicken with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, some salt (about 1 ½ tsp), pepper (1 ½ tsp) and rosemary.    Place the chicken on the middle rack of oven and cook for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Make sure the chicken’s internal temperature is about 165 degrees (check temperature in thickest part of chicken without touching a bone).  The legs should move easily (almost fall off) and the juices should run clear.  Cover with foil.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.  Then serve!

Tags: baked, Chicken, health-recipes, oven, recipe, Roast Chicken

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