The Perfect Holiday Roasted Chicken Recipe

It's dinner time, again.  Every day around 5pm, my family starts to get hungry for dinner, and every day my husband wants something hearty, filling, and loaded with MEAT!  Yep, he's a meaty meaty meat-eater.  I eat meat too, but not like this guy.  He'd eat en entire chicken in one sitting if I'd let him, and if the rest of his family weren't present...  Heck, he'd probably eat a entire cow if he too had three stomachs.

Do you know anyone like this? 

I always bake, but don't "cook" that often.  I'm great at arranging ingredients, like taco bar, burritos, sandwiches.. which are tastyriffic.. but cooking, that's another story.  That's today's story.

 

We always buy rotisserie chickens from Sprouts {my preference of flavor} or Costco {my husband's preference} which are really good, especially in My Famous Green Chicken Enchiladas and chicken tacos, but I've always wanted to try cooking my own.  I've watch the Food Network and have seen the Barefoot Contessa roast plenty of chickens that I totally knew I could do it.

And now that it's the Holidays, in fact, Christmas is in 5 days {I can't believe it, I'm not ready!!}, this meal will fill up your entire family and can be served buffet style or at a sit-down setting. 

Along with this bird we will have some delicious roasted vegetables that will cook at the same time and collect all of those yummy chicken flavors.  Scrumptious.

Carrots, onion, and potatoes, oh my!

This is going to be very exciting.  Now I can't wait for dinner!!

Raw veggies coated in olive oil and generously seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.  .. you must season your food!!

We begin with one uncooked chicken, ready to prepare however you like.  Mine is ready to prepare the EASY way, my favorite way.

No fuss, not too many ingredients, and a whole meal ready when the timer goes off.  Sounds like perfection.

I bought a two-pack of these young chickens at Costco for about $13.  They were around 6.5 lbs each.

Start with a clean, empty sink where any possible chicken juice splatters will not contaminate anything.  Safety and Sanitation is a serious deal.  So is handwashing after every contact with this raw bird before you touch anything else!!  Do not cross contaminate!

Remember to clean everything thoroughly after handling any/all raw meat!!

I rinsed the bird inside and out, cut off as much skin and fat as possible, cut my finger in the process, ran to the bathroom to wash my hands with hot water and soap, found a bandaid, felt like I was on an episode of chopped, got back to work.  { I didn't have gloves, but I was feeding my family of 3 and wasn't worried about blood because none was dripping off of my finger!}  Whew.

Dear Santa, please bring me some clear gloves in case I go on Chopped again. 

Next, fill 'er up with salt, pepper, lemon, garlic, and thyme on the inside. 

Season inside with salt and pepper, slice a lemon in half and place inside, do the same with the whole garlic, and then insert a bunch of thyme. 

I peeled off as much of the garlic "paper" as possible without the head falling apart. 

Glamour shot. 

"I used to cluck cluck.  You're going to eat me, aren't you?"

YES!  We're going to gobble gobble the cluck cluck.  Funny, huh?

Preheat oven to 425ºF.  Roast for 1-1/2 hrs, until juices run clear between the leg and the thigh.  {this took me longer than 1-1/2 hrs.. and I kept checking the temp with my food thermometer.  The temp registered at 165º long before the juices ran clear.. this was confusing, so I Googled it, and then read about the red blobs not being blood but something else.. I don't know.  I freaked out, took out all my veggies before the red juice leaked all over them, put the chicken in a dutch oven with the lid, put it back in the oven for another 30-40-60 minutes.. don't really remember,  until the juices were much clearer and no more red.}

The globs on the chicken.. yeah, that's butter paste!  

While I was doing that, she was doing this ...

She was catching the rain.

Her imagination is amazing and she is spectacularly wonderful!!

She defines fun, she lives happy, and she inspires beauty.  

Here she is.  After a couple of hours in the oven and several checks with the meat thermometer, she is ready to pull out and rest before slicing.

Oh my gosh.  Can you take it?  How can you look at this without wanting to tear at your screen?  I'm seriously struggling right now. 

I hope hubby is happy.  {I know he will be}

"Mmm, mommy, this is the BEST dinner I've ever had!"  

That's right.  Swoosh.  Touchdown.  Gooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!

Jackpot. 

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten on Food Network

Original Recipe :: Perfect Roast Chicken on the Food Network

The only thing I did differently was omit the fennel {because my hubby doesn't appreciate the flavor of black licorice} and I think I added more butter due to misreading the recipe.  There are no accidents when it's a matter of more butter.  It's serendipity. 

Now you know how to make the perfect roasted chicken all on your own.  You don't have to buy one at the store.  This recipe was very easy, didn't take long, and made our home smell divine while the chicken was cooking.

Add some warm, buttery rolls, Sweet Chilli Onion Dip with Avocado and Cilantro,  potato/macaroni salad, candied yams, roasted corn salad, deviled eggs, Salmon Cream Cheese Ball, fresh fruit salad, Christmas Beans, Rainbow Rotini with Jalapeño Cream Sauce, and an assortment of desserts to your menu for a memorable Holiday meal that will leave your family and friends drooling over until next year!

The recipe for BoxMix Bubbe's Famous Christmas Beans will be featured here on BeckyCharms.  Sign up for email/RSS updates to never miss a post! 

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I can't wait to make this again. 

So tell me, what time is dinner?

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Faith & Fruition, 

BeckyCharms