Saturday marked the first day of our meat CSA and to celebrate we roasted up a juicy, free-range chicken on Sunday evening. It was the perfect dish to eat on a chilly, rainy night. I love how simple it is to prepare, how my home smells while it roasts, and how delicious of a meal it is to eat. It’s also healthy as well!
There are two recipes I like to use when making a roast chicken. I use either Ina Garten’s “Perfect Roast Chicken” recipe or I make my own version. If I use the former, the only change I make to the recipe is to place the chicken (after it’s been stuffed) on a bed of red potatoes, mushrooms, and organic carrots (they taste way better than conventional plus they have the pretty tips for presentation). While the chicken roasts, the juices flow onto the vegetables and cook them in the most delicious way. Oh, and I love to roast in cast iron pans. You can read more about them here.
This recipe is quite similar, but includes tarragon instead of thyme, and incorporates all the vegetables I like to use when making my own version:
Roast Chicken a la Steph
1 four pound chicken, preferably organic, free-range (they are tastier, juicer, and free of all those injections!)
4 or 5 large white mushrooms
4 organic carrots, peeled
baby red potatoes
1 lemon, quartered
1 bunch fresh tarragon
6 large cloves of garlic, peeled, whole
1 large onion, sliced
coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 TB. butter, melted
1 TB. minced flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place baby red potatoes, carrots and mushrooms in a seasoned Dutch oven or cast iron pan. If you opt for large red potatoes cut them in thirds or fourths…you pick. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Clean out the cavity if the butcher didn’t already do it for you. Season cavity with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper. Place two lemon quarters inside cavity, then the garlic, next the fresh tarragon, then the remaining two lemon quarters. Tie legs with twine to keep all the good stuff inside the chicken.
Place the chicken on top of the bed of red potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Sprinkle onion slices around the chicken. Baste chicken with melted butter. Sprinkle chicken with coarse salt, pepper, and minced flat leaf parsley (optional). Roast in oven for 1 – 1.5 hours. Watch the chicken as the cooking time will vary based on elevation, type of pan used, the size of the chicken, personal preference, etc.
Once roasted, place the chicken, potatoes and mushrooms on a serving dish. Tent the chicken with foil. Use the drippings in the cast iron pan (or Dutch oven) to make a roux on medium/med high heat. Gradually add chicken broth until a good consistency for gravy. Pour in a little milk and simmer a minute or two. Serve over chicken and vegetables.
