My first roast chicken

A whole roast chicken seems to be the quintessential feat of a true cook. I've been a bit averse to the idea because I am a bit squeamish when it comes to cooking with meat, especially a whole bird. I remember one Thanksgiving years ago when I said I would make the turkey, but my mom had to actually prepare the turkey itself, like removing the stuff inside, rinsing it off, etc. All I did was stick it in the oven.

I made so many excuses not to make a roast chicken. "I don't have roasting pan," "I don't want to put my hand inside a chicken to remove the gizzards," "No matter how many videos I watch of trussing a chicken, it's still confusing to me."


It really seemed time though, in my culinary journey, that I tackle the whole chicken.

I've been researching methods for a while and went with Marcella Hazan's, which I found by way of the Cheap Healthy Good blog. This method seemed the most straightforward and accessible. Veggies are optional but recommended.

Roasting pan, schmoasting pan. I just used a large oval casserole (from Ikea!) which was perfect. As for trussing, well you can see the results below. I just tied the legs and sort of wrapped some twine around the wings. Oh, and I didn't have to worry about the innards because Fresh Direct sells whole chickens without gizzards. This might be disappointing to some but not for me!


This method starts the chicken breast-side down for half an hour, then breast-side up for half an hour before increasing the heat to finish. I was a bit terrified of under-cooking the chicken so I probably cooked it for much longer than it needed - I left it in for another 45-50 minutes, then another 20 minutes in the oven with the heat turned off (to rest). That's about 2 1/2 hours total preparation time. I'm not a big fan of skin unless it's on fried chicken, so I wasn't too concerned about getting a really crisp skin. In fact, I may considering roasting breast-side down for longer (in which case I may not be able to call this a roast chicken).


Nonetheless, the finished product was delicious and juicy. I think you just can't go wrong with a freshly roasted chicken. The veggies, especially the onion, were incredible. I shredded up the meat for later uses and used the bones to make chicken stock. I'm Eskimo like that - I use every little bit.


Roast Chicken per Marcella Hazan
Cheap Healthy Good

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 lb whole chicken (mine was 4.3 lbs)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 small lemons

My shorthand instructions

• Set oven to 350 degrees
• Rinse chicken, set out to dry. Use paper towels.
• Salt and pepper inside and out
• Prick lemons all over, place inside chicken
• Tie up legs, try to get wings close to bird
• Place chicken breast-side down in pan, roast for 30 min
• Turn chicken over, roast for 30 min
• Increase heat to 400, roast for 20-30 min
• Let rest before carving (I left it in oven for another 20 min with heat turned off)