#49 Try 25 new recipes (1/25)

My first new recipe is from AllRecipes.com. Here is a link to the original recipe: Roasted Chicken with Rosemary.

[picture to come!]

I made quite a few alterations to the recipe to personalize it to the ingredients I had on hand and take into consideration the comments/reviews others had done about this recipe (namely AbeLincoln's comment). Below is the revised version of the original recipe; an estimate of what I actually made.


Preheat oven to 350*F

Ingredients:
1 (5lb) whole chicken
5-6 quartered potatoes (skin on)
~1/2 a bag of baby carrots
2 quartered-and-peeled onions
1 carton of chicken stock

Seasonings:
~1/2tbsp dried rosemary,
~1 generous tsp of chopped garlic
~1tbsp of olive oil
splash of lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
----I mixed all of these together in a little bowl I could "grab" out of)

1. Defrost chicken, clean it thoroughly
2. Stuff the chicken with onion (I fit two quarters of an onion into mine)
3. Put in it your baking dish (I used a dark metal 13x9 dish and placed the chicken on a wire rack in the dish.) (The wire rack allows more of the skin to get crispy.) (You don't have to use the rack)
4. Coat the chicken with your seasoning -- all sides and outside crevices.
5. Rub your potatoes with any leftover seasoning and place them (cut side down) and the carrots in the baking dish
6. Pour in the chicken stock. (I used most of the carton because I wanted all of my veggies to be at least partially submerged in the liquid.) (And I wanted to use the drippings for gravy... so I wanted a lot of drippings!)
7. Bake.
   The original recipe said to bake the dish for 2-2.5 hours, however the original recipe only had a 3ish lb chicken and did not account for the vegetables, whereas I was cooking a 5lb chicken with lotsa vegetables in the same pan. Not being a fan of raw chicken, I looked up an article about chicken cooking "etiquette" and found a chart for cooking times, temperatures, etc.
   In the end, I cooked everything at 350* for about 3 hours, then let it rest in a cooling oven for another half hour.
8. Take the chicken & vegetables out of the baking dish and into a serving dish and use the drippings to  make gravy.
1. Pour the drippings into a searing hot pan.
2. Reduce by about half (Read: boil without burning until half the liquid has evaporated.)
3. Thicken the sauce (if necessary) with a rue.

Serve hot! :)


ps. After eating this (I made it a few days ago) I would suggest using more carrots (maybe the whole bag instead of half) and maybe one less potato.

p.p.s. I also advise against excessive salting / adding salt after the baking has begun especially if you're making a gravy... The liquid will reduce & condense and amplify the saltiness that's already there.

So, just leave the final salt & peppering to the diners. :)