Who doesn’t love this traditional comfort food this time of year? I know sure do!
A lot of people get intimidated cooking a whole chicken, opting instead to pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store on the way home, but it’s actually really easy to do it yourself, and the leftovers make great lunches!
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1 Organic Pasture Raised Roasting Chicken (approx 6 pounds), with insides removed
- 2 tablespoons of organic butter, broken up into pieces + a bit more at room temperatureJ
- 1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
- 4 garlic cloves, mashed with a knife to remove the skin
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs (dry works too if you’re stuck)
- salt & pepper
How to:
Preheat oven to 400
Place chicken in roasting pan.
Season the cavity of the chicken, liberally, with salt and pepper. Insert lemon wedges and thyme into the cavity. Gently separate the skin of the chicken from the breast and insert garlic cloves and pieces of butter under the skin. Rub outer skin with additional butter.
Roast chicken until the skin is crisp and the juices run clear. Approx 1 ½ hours. Check it after about 45 min to make sure that the skin is not burning. If so tent with some tin foil for until the last 20 minutes.
Serve with baked sweet potatoes and roasted veggies.
Double the recipe for extra leftovers and if you’re big on no wasting like me, the leftover bones will make great chicken stock.
Homemade Chicken Stock
How to:
- Carve the chicken and removed most of the meat from the bones
- Place all leftover bones and skin in a pot and cover with water and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
- Bring to boil and then let simmer for several hours. The longer you have the better the flavor.
Make a quick and easy chicken soup the next day or freeze for a quick nourishing soup later in the season.
Have a happy and healthy day!
Daniela
