Herb Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken is one of those dishes that I dread making. In fact, roasting anything (ie; turkey) really scares me. It either comes out dry or under-cooked. Which is why I always deep fry my turkey. And that always comes out perfectly. I roasted a chicken once, using a different recipe. But it didn't impress me much. For me, its easier and yummier to pick up a store-bought rotisserie chicken. So why make it now? Whole chickens were cheaper than buying the already cut-up chicken. And the package I bought came with 2 whole chickens - one chicken was already used making 40 Clove Garlic Chicken. I figured, for the sake of adding a Roasted Chicken recipe into this blog, I decided to finally use up the last whole chicken and make one.

I, unfortunately, lost the recipe for the last Roasted Chicken I made. So after doing a quick search online, I came up with this recipe from Anne Burell of the Food Network. I halved all the ingredients to make 1 whole chicken. The ingredients are pretty straightforward. However the recipe is pretty involved, having to watch the chicken every 15 minutes for about an hour or so. With that said, I wasn't really too happy with the way the dish came out. It probably didn't help that I didn't have a roasting pan with a rack. So the chicken sat in its liquid and didn't cook well. So my chicken was slightly undercooked. The flavors were really good, so I'll try to use this recipe again if I ever end up buying whole chickens again. Hopefully by then, I'll have a roasting pan for the chicken to cook better.

1 Tbsp. chopped rosemary (fresh or dried)
2 Tbsp. chopped sage (fresh or dried)
3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 whole chicken
salt
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small onion, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 rib celery, cut into 1/2 inch cube
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs thyme, bundled together
2 cups chicken broth

1) Preheat oven to 450 deg F.

2) In a small bowl, combine rosemary, sage, garlic, red pepper flake and olive oil. Season generously with salt. Using your fingertips, carefully work your way under the skin of the chicken to separate the skin from the breast to develop a pocket. Evenly distribute the herb paste under the skin. Drizzle the outside of the chicken with more olive oil and massage onto the skin. Sprinkle generously with salt. Set aside.

3) Place diced vegetables, bay leaf, and bundle of thyme in a roasting pan. Add 1 cup chicken broth and season generously with salt. Place chicken on top of the vegetables and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

4) After 15 minutes, the skin should begin to brown. Lower temperature to 375 deg F and continue roasting for another 15 minutes. Turn the chicken over to cook on the other side. If most of the liquid in the roasting pan has evaporated, add another 1/2 cup of broth. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes.

5) Turn chicken back over with the breast side up and continue roasting for a final 15 minutes. The chicken is done when the temperature between the thigh and breast is between 160-170 deg F. Place chicken on a platter and tent with a foil.  Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes before carving.