Perfect Roast Chicken & Vegetables

"Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."  ~Harriet Von Horne.


Well, I do love cooking but I also grew up with a mother that hated to cook and often came up with edible yet questionable meals.  After a long day of work or a hard week sometimes the last thing one wants to do is prepare dinner. 


Alas, comes the roast. It takes not a lot of preparation, no major cooking skills, no expensive ingredients and since it cooks for a while you can do other things while the "cooking" actually takes place.  It's also a great way to introduce kids or finicky husbands to more vegetables.


This past weekend my husband and i took a trip to IKEA to buy our baby high chair, and while there i saw a roast pan for $5, of course i could not pass this opportunity up and thus, my adventure in roasting begun.I had always been intimidated to Roast a Chicken or vegetables for that matter but this past weekend I decided to conquer my fear and try my luck with my first Roast. Of course, I went to my ultimate cooking guru, Martha Stewart.  I figured that she couldn't let me down, so I pulled my cooking school book and went to town. 

IKEA find

I followed the recipe below and it came out wonderful.  My house and hallway smelled delicious and the food was seriously to die for.  (Martha never disappoints) 

Things I bought:

$5 --ikea roasting pan

$4--3 1/2 pound chicken (same day of the roast)

$2-3 for fresh herbs

all the other ingredients I had in my house already (lemon, twine,salt,pepper, olive oil)

Perfect Roast Chicken step by step
1 fresh whole chicken (btwn 3-4 pounds), let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour before preparing
Salt and Fresh ground pepper (sea salt works best)
1 lemon, cut into 1/4 inch rounds (leave out the ends)
4 sprigs of rosemary
3 garlic cloves, crushed (smash them with the knife until spit open and juice runs)
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature


(when i made this chicken, i placed baby russet potatoes and carrots at the bottom of the pan and cooked the chicken on top, see pictures, but you can cook the chicken separate of the vegetables)


Heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove giblets and liver (usually in bag inside of chicken) from cavity and discard. Trim excess fat found around the cavity.

1. rinse chicken under cold water, inside and out
2. Pat dry (i used LOTS of paper towels; this step is Crucial)
3. Once cavity is dry as possible, season with salt and pepper to taste (be generous)

Step #4,6,7


4. Stuff the cavity with lemon, rosemary and garlic.
5. Truss chicken (tie legs together with twine)
6. Rub skin with the butter
7.  Season all over with salt and pepper


Place chicken in small roasting pan (or you could use large ovenproof skillet) and roast. It will take about 1 1/2 to cook. After it's done, take out and cover with aluminum foil and leave covered for about 20 minutes before serving.


Optional: drizzle olive oil (about 2 tbsp) at bottom of pan and place vegetables at the bottom of the pan. sprinkle with salt and pepper, place chicken on top and roast.

Tips:

•  if you can't buy the chicken the same day make sure it's totally defrosted and thawed out the day you decide to make the roast.
• make sure the chicken is as dry as possible, before you begin stuffing and seasoning it.
• Truss or tie the legs together so that the chicken cooks evenly.

How to Truss a Chicken:

1. with tail closest to you hold one end of twine in each hand

2. center and run the twine around the neck of the chicken

3. pass it over the drumsticks and under their joints

4. cross twine over the joints

5. tighten to bring together

6. wrap on end all the way around the tail end and tie securely.

Vegetable Roast or Tian

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil
• what ever combination you choose: do about 1 of each vegetable of choice* (except tomatoes and onions for tomatoes use 3-4 and for onions (red,white, or yellow) about 2 small)
• Springs of Herbs (Thyme, Rosemary or oregano/marjoram)
• 1 head of garlic

*vegetables of choice: asparagus, beets,broccoli, cauliflower,brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes,corn,fennel,mushrooms,potatoes,shallots,sweet potatoes,turnips,winter squash,tomatoes,onions,yellow squash, or zucchini, eggplants.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat bottom with 2 tablespoons of oil.  Arrange veggies in dish by alternating them and/or overlapping them.  Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with enough oil to coat generously, and scatter herbs and garlic over the top (evenly). Bake for about 20-25 minutes, baste with oil and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.

TIP: when cooking at the same time as the chicken (which i did in this case) place the vegetable dish after the first hour of cooking the chicken.  let it cook with the chicken for the last half hour the chicken requires.  Take out the chicken, reduce the heat, and continue cooking the veggies while the chicken is covered with aluminum for the next 20 minutes.  This way all the food is ready to serve and eat at the same time.  Also, drain the excess oil from the vegetables!!!

I combined all the vegetables (from the pan and those cooked separately) and it was delicious!!  As you can see the chicken was moist with crispy skin.  The vegetables were tasty and a great way to get yourself and others to try them.

I am quite sure that you will find that you have both the skills and the confidence to improvise and experiment in the kitcthen after trying this recipe.  So to all the home cooks everywhere, don't be afraid to conquer your culinary fears!