Since we have started selling our whole birds we have noticed that some people are not familiar with how to prepare one. We have a pretty basic but delicious every time approach that we have shared before but thought this might be a good spot for it as well.
Roast Chicken a la Woods Edge Farm
1 – 3-5 lb whole chicken 1 lemon, quartered 3-4 cloves of garlic a few sprigs of thyme (dried thyme works as well, including from a spice jar) 1/2 yellow onion 4 medium sweet potatoes (optional) kitchen string
Heat your oven to 425 degrees.
If you love sweet potatoes, start here. Wash and cut into 1/2″ cubes and cover bottom of roasting pan. Roughly chop the onion and toss in with sweet potatoes. (I give my friend, Sarah Tosick 100% credit for this idea. It has become one of my favorite parts of roasting a chicken, so
thank you, Sarah!!)
Next, rinse the inside of your chicken and dry with paper towels (these can compost if you compost). If the neck is still attached, it is up to you whether or not to remove it. Either way, do not throw this away. This is valuable for broth, which will be in the next post.
Salt and pepper the inside of your chicken, then stuff with lemon, cloves of garlic and thyme. Now truss that baby up, salt and pepper the outside of the bird, and you are ready to place in the oven.
Note: Some recipes call for butter or olive oil rubbed into the skin. This isn’t necessary when buying a fresh, grass-grazed chicken. The skin is tender enough without the added fat. But, if you are dead set on giving it a good butter bath (like my husband is – and I have it admit, it is really good. But not necessary if you are trying to avoid butter or oil), then feel free to do that as you like.
Roast for 90 minutes, checking doneness around the 60 minute mark and every thirty minutes after that. The smaller your bird, the quicker this goes. Once the chicken reaches 165 degrees, you are ready to pull her out of the oven and let her rest on a cutting board for 10-15 minutes before cutting.
All of the yummy juices from your chicken will drip onto your potatoes and onions underneath and make for a delicious side dish. And if there is any left after supper, an amazing side with your eggs the next morning.
Important note: once you eat your delicious chicken, save the bones and the neck from earlier. The soup and broth post is coming up next!
I hope you love this recipe. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
Blessings Seja