Roast Chicken Dinner tonight

Hi all:

Tonight (Monday night), I am making one of my all-time favourite meals - roast chicken. I used to only make it for Sunday dinner or special occasions- I just love how it smells and how good it tastes, but I saw a quicker version on TV a few years ago and I have now adopted this as my "go-to" roast chicken recipe.

I saw this recipe on TV's "Buddy - Kitchen Boss"; you know, the same Buddy that is the world-famous "Cake Boss". I don't know if his cooking show is on TV anymore; I just know that I am darned pleased that I saw this episode and wrote down his recipe. It is so flavourful, my mouth is watering now as I anticipate it coming out of the oven.

Here is his recipe:

Buddy's Roast Chicken

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1 large roasting chicken (get as large as you can - you are going to want as many leftovers as possible!!)

1 onion (I used some red and some sweet Walla Walla onions)

1 lemon

1 whole garlic head

Fresh rosemary

Salt and pepper

Butter (I used olive oil to make it healthier)

Approx. 1/2 c. Chicken broth

Paprika (Buddy didn't use this; I added it)

Approx. 8-10 small potatoes

Approx. 6-7 carrots (I can't remember if Buddy actually used carrots and potatoes in his recipe, but I put the chicken on top of them and they turn out fabulous!)

Cast iron skillet

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash and liberally salt and pepper, the inside and outside of the entire chicken - "even under the armpits", as Buddy said, and set chicken aside.  Wash and quarter the potatoes, removing any dirt or blemishes. Place into cast iron skillet. 

Wash and peel the carrots and place in the skillet with the potatoes. Quarter the onion and place 3/4 of the onion in the skillet and the other quarter inside the chicken cavity. I make sure I spread the onion around in the pan.

Cut the lemon into quarters and place 3/4 in the skillet and 1/4 in the chicken cavity. (I place the 1/4 lemon in the cavity, but squeeze the lemon juice from the 3/4 of lemon onto the chicken and the vegetables. I find the lemon rinds tend to make the pan juices bitter if left to cook with the vegetables).

Next, place 1 whole sprig of rosemary in the cavity and 2-3 whole sprigs in the skillet with the vegetables. (I ran out, or you would see more in my pictures).

Cut off the tips of the whole garlic head and place entire head into cavity.( I didn't use that much garlic. I just put 2-3 crushed cloves into the cavity and spread another 1-2 crushed cloves onto the top of the bird).

Next, liberally butter the entire outside of the chicken. I opted to use olive oil and first sprinkled the entire top of bird with paprika and some crushed garlic cloves and then drizzled olive oil onto the bird.

This shows the crushed garlic on top. I keep forgetting it burns in the oven, so you might want to omit this and just put the garlic in the cavity and/or in with the vegetables.

Add about 1/2- 3/4 cup chicken broth to the skillet and put chicken uncovered in the oven for about 45 min. - 1 hour. I usually find my oven takes a lot longer - about 1 - 1/2 hours to cook the chicken entirely.  Just keep watching it, take it out occasionally to baste it with the pan juices and add more chicken broth if needed.  Buddy also suggested you truss the bird, but I never do.  Remove when chicken shows it is done on a meat thermometer.

Enjoy.  I am sure you will be making this frequently from now on. It doesn't get any better than a "one pan roast chicken dinner with all the fixin's".

Cluck, cluck!

Rosie