Easy Roasted Chicken

The husband came home early today, since I was not feeling well. I gave him a verbal action plan of what I wanted to do for dinner, and quickly excused myself for a very long and satisfying nap. Thankfully, my husband has some kitchen prowess, so I woke up to a very fragrant (in a good way) house. I tell ya, one of the best cooking smells is a roasted chicken!

There really is no "recipe" for tonight's meal, just a game plan to get the chicken cooked. If I want to be totally honest, this is a dumbed down version of Anne Burrell's Herb Roasted Chicken recipe. I kinda took the general idea, and made it a lot easier with less ingredients. Hopefully, the result will be just as yummy. We probably are not going to make gravy from the drippings. Instead, I will just recycle all the cooked juices and aromatics into a batch of homemade chicken stock later. Baked potatoes and steamed green beans will round out our roasted chicken dinner. Ummmm...I am looking forward to eating tonight!

Easy Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:
1 5 lb. whole chicken
1/4 cup of canola oil
2 onions, quartered
6 celery stalks cut in half
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a roasting pan, place cut onion quarters and celery stalks in the bottom forming a framework or bed, then set aside. Rinse chicken inside and out with water, and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowel, combine canola oil and all of the dried spices, including salt and pepper. Mix to form a paste. Smear outside of chicken (on all sides) with oil and spice mixture, making sure to rub evenly over the entire surface of the chicken. Place seasoned chicken in the roasting pan, on the bed of onions and celery, so the chicken is not touching the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour chicken stock into bottom of the roasting pan and cover with foil.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, uncover the chicken and make sure there is still liquid in the bottom of the pan (add water or additional chicken stock, if needed). Baste chicken with pan juices and return to oven uncovered. Bake for an additional hour, chicken every twenty minutes to baste and check liquids again. Chicken is done when internal temp reaches 165 degrees on a meat thermometer and the juices run clear when pierced at the thigh joint. Take chicken out of the oven and cover with foil again. Let cooked chicken rest on your stove top for 5-10 minutes. Carve and serve!!!

Jen's Notes:
If your bird is bigger or smaller than 5 lbs., I would adjust the cooking time accordingly.





The Result:
This turned out really good. The meat was juicy and flavorful, and the skin got nice and browned. Yum! I will say that the Anne Burrell recipe does produce crispy skin, where as this version did not. However, we don't really eat the skin anyway. I can forgo crispy skin if the cooking method is easy and the results are delicious. Overall, this was certainly a solid version of roasted chicken that was pretty easy to prepare. The chicken was cooked almost perfectly...so really, what more could you ask for?!?! I will make this version again, especially if I don't feel like fussing with the trussing and preparation of the chicken.