Whole Organic Roasted Chicken
Okay, okay, I know- my pictures still need work, but there's a story with this one. What's the reason for not showing the entire golden crispy skinned, perfectly roasted chicken in it's rustic looking cast-iron  pan?
I forgot. I was in a hurry to feed Nate before he had to leave, and I hacked into my chicken without a second thought until I realized I needed a photo.
Sooooo…. there's a slice of the delectable roasted chicken served with its companions of maple mashed yams and tangy balsamic rainbow chard, carrots and apples.
I'm not usually one to so overtly brag about food I've made, but this was the first whole chicken I've made in the oven in over 4 years. I was concerned it would come out near dusty instead of juicy and tender.Â
Would you like to try making this? It's SUPER easy and, surprisingly, doesn't have to be reserved for special occasions. It makes for a lovely mid-week dinner with (depending on how many mouths you're feeding), leftovers for lunch.
Here's what you will need:
1 5ish lb whole organic chicken
1 Tbl balsamic vinegar reduction (you could just use regular balsamic too- I wanted a denser flavor)
several dashes of black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.Â
Finely chop all of your herbs. Add them into the olive oil, then add the balsamic, white wine, salt and pepper. Mix it all well and try to even crush the leaves further. You could also just pop everything into the food processor if you wanted, but I like having chunks of herbs.
Rinse the chicken, remove giblets if there's some in there. (I made Nate do that. I'm a bad foodie and inner organs kinda gross me out.) Then pat it dry, inside and out, very well.Â
Slice half of the onion and spread it in the bottom of your pan. I used a cast iron, but I'm sure you could use whatever dish you have available. Cut the other half of the onion into large chunks then cut the apple into chunks as well.Â
Separate the skin from the chicken being careful not to tear it. There just needs to be enough room so you can slip your hand in with the herbs. Spread half inside the skin on the top of the chicken. Then rub some on the outside of the skin all over the entire chicken. Whatever's left, pour into the inside.Â
Stuff the inside with as many onions and apples will fit in there.Â
Pop the chicken (I keep almost saying turkey) into the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then drop the temperature to 350 and cook for 20 minutes per pound.Â
Check the temperature when there's around 15-20 minutes left just to ensure it's not finished before you think it is. The internal temperature should be about 160 degrees. If it's a few degrees less, that's ok, it will continue to cook for a bit after you take it out of the oven.Â
Leave the chicken rest for 15-20 minutes after taking it out of the oven. It allows the juices to settle back in instead of just running out as soon as you cut it.Â
This easily lends itself to whatever sides you wish to serve. Or, if you're like me when I was single, I would've just eaten a lot of chicken for dinner.
My mashed yams required only oven roasted yams, peeled, then mashed with a little maple syrup, cinnamon, fresh grated nutmeg and a touch of salt.
The balsamic rainbow chard, carrots and apples I kinda cheated on. I bought a bag of mixed chard, sliced a carrot with a peeler, diced an apple, then sautĂ©ed it in coconut oil with 1 Tbl balsamic reduction, 1 Tbl honey, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar and a bit of salt.Â