I've been spending a lot of time out on a local farm with my family lately, and we have been blessed to be able to bring home frozen Organic Free Range Chickens! Many thanks to Peter and Katherine at Stonefield Organic Farm for your friendship, your generosity and your willingness to teach me and my family the ways of the farm. You'll be hearing more from me in weeks to come about the value of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms and the importance of eating fresh, organic foods, but for now, you can contact them with any questions at 734.395.8955.
And now on with today's recipe, inspired by the farm!
Roasted Chicken
Ingredients:
One Whole Roasting Chicken, 3-4 pounds, thawed in
refrigerator, innards removed
(Free Range Organic preferred)
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
2 tsp Celtic Sea Salt
¼ - ½ tsp Ground Pepper Medley
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
½ tsp Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Butter, sliced into several pieces
1 Small Yellow Onion, sliced
8-10 Garlic Cloves, peeled
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Set aside softened Butter in a small bowl.
Mix in another small bowl Celtic Sea Salt, Ground Pepper
Medley, Herbes de Provence and Onion Powder and set aside.
Place the Butter slices across the bottom of a large lidded
Roasting Pan. Spread the Onion slices
across the bottom of the pan on top of the Butter. Place the Garlic Cloves around the perimeter
of the pan.
Place chicken on a plate or in a
glass casserole dish. Using your hands, spread the Softened Butter
all over the outside of the Chicken.
Using your hands, sprinkle and/or rub the seasoning mix all over the
outside of the Chicken.
Place seasoned Whole Roasting Chicken in the Roasting Pan
atop the butter and onions. Cover and
cook for 45 minutes.
Remove Roasting Pan from oven. Using tongs to grab the outside of the
Chicken, and inserting a long handled plastic spoon in the inside cavity, turn
your chicken once, like on a rotisserie, placing it back in the pan with the
side that had been the bottom now on top (this is not as tricky as it sounds.) Replace lid and put chicken back in over to
cook for another 30 minutes. Remove from
oven and insert meat thermometer into chicken breast to check for
doneness. Thermometer should easily
reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If it does
not reach 180, replace lid and cook for another 10 minutes.
Let chicken rest for 5 minutes, uncovered, and then remove
from roasting pan and place on serving dish, or carve and serve. (Note: I like to use my hands and pull all
the meat off the bones instead of trying to use a knife, seems way easier to
me.) Include 2-3 Garlic Cloves per person
when serving.
Serving suggestion: Serve with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Sesame
Collard Greens. (Recipes for these will be included in my cookbook!)
Happy Crunching!
~crunchymamahippechic
(AKA Brandi)
