Recipe: Roast Chicken

I tend to make chicken a lot. I do like to change up the type – sometimes it’s Greek chicken breasts, sometimes barbecued thighs, sometimes some simple herbed wings.

The funny thing is, though, I don’t make chicken so often because of how much I like it. I do enjoy it, of course, just not as much as other foods. I tend to make it so often because it’s a relatively easy meat to prepare.

Roast chicken, though some may look at it as being a bit daunting, is no exception to the easy-to-prepare rule. And it might just be one of my favourite ways to eat chicken.

While there are some more difficult roast chicken recipes out there, this one is pretty easy. It doesn’t require many ingredients, and it doesn’t need much – if any – attention once it’s in the oven.

And – bonus – it doesn’t take very long. It takes me about 15 minutes to prepare it, it goes in the oven for about an hour, and then it rests for about 30 minutes. It’s great for a weekend afternoon when you have a bit, but not a whole lot, of extra time.

This chicken doesn’t have a particular over-powering flavour to it, so it pairs well with a lot of different sides. I like roasted potatoes and carrots with mine, but it would also be great with everything from a salad to french fries.

It’s also great leftover. I like to use any leftover meat in chicken salad wraps/sandwiches and chicken Caesar salads. And the bones and the celery can be thrown into a pot with a few other staples to make a good supply of chicken stock.

Oh, this is one of those recipes where I don’t use set amounts of certain ingredients (in this case, the butter and seasoning). I recommend using whatever suits your taste. I tend to use a few tablespoons of butter, and enough seasoning to add some flavour without overpowering the chicken itself.

Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 fryer chicken
• Butter or margerine
• 1 stalk of celery
• Garlic Powder
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Pat your chicken dry, inside and out. Place it in a roasting pan.
3. Gently seperate the skin from the breast of the chicken, being sure not to rip the skin or remove from the sides/ends of the chicken. Massage about a tablespoon of butter between the breast and the skin. It’s okay if some larger chunks of butter remain.
4. Sprinkle a little bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder inside the chicken. Cut the celery stalk into three or four pieces and insert it into the chicken. Add a few small pieces of butter, as well.
5. Massage the outside of the chicken with butter. Leave a few small chunks on whole, letting them sit on top of the chicken. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder over the chicken, to taste.
6. Cook the chicken in the oven, uncovered, for about an hour, or until a thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 165F.
7. Remove from the oven and cover the chicken, still in the roasting pan. Let sit for about a half hour before serving.