Roasted Chickens

 Roasted Chickens with Gravy

Here are a couple of recipes for roasted chickens that I happen to enjoy!
~DKH

Useful pre-cooking tips/instructions:

Okay, so chicken is pretty dodgy, especially if you've never prepped it before--it can be a bit daunting. So here are a few useful things to know about working with poultry that can save you some headache later.

1. Just like any raw meat, care should be taken to disinfect anything that comes in contact with raw chicken. This includes, but is not limited to, utensils, surfaces, and hands. 10% (1 oz bleach in 9 oz water) bleach is a good way to clean surfaces, and hot, soapy water a good way for hands and utensils.

2. How to clean and prep a chicken:

• Rinse in warm water to remove any bits
• Remove any ties/holds that are keeping the legs together
• Remove the bag of goodies (giblets) from the inside cavity of the chicken
• Wash the inside cavity of the bird
• Check BOTH ends of the chicken for giblets (sometimes packagers put giblets in both ends of the bird, it's a treasure hunt...)
• If you'd like to break down the chicken, use a sharp boning or chef's knife to cut the chicken into pieces at the joints

For more info on cooking with chicken: http://www.helpwithcooking.com/cooking-poultry/roast-chicken.html

Classic Roasted Chicken:
 Materials:
1 Medium whole chicken
2 Large Onions
4 Cloves Garlic
1 lb Carrots (cut in finger sized pieces)
2.5 lbs  Red or Yellow Potatoes (cut into 1.5" cubes)
Salt
Pepper
Water

Methods: 
Preheat oven to: 325 F 
Cut onions into large quarters, no need to remove outer skins (they add colour to the chicken), skin garlic cloves. Clean chicken (that means remove everything from the inside cavity as well), and place in roasting pan (tuck the wings underneath if you don't want them to get too crispy) breast side up. Place some pieces of onion under the breast skin, inside, on top and around the chicken in the pan--do the same with the garlic. Grind some salt and pepper onto the chicken. Place the carrots and potatoes around the chicken in the pan. Add about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the pan and place in the oven. Cooking time will vary by size of the bird--I usually cook my chickens at 325 F for about 30 minutes per pound. To be safe, you should use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken has reached a safe internal temperature. I usually cook my chicken longer than usual because I like the meat to be falling off the bone. When the chicken is 30-45 minutes from being finished, turn the heat up to 350-375 and brown up the skin, also, collect as much broth as you need to make the gravy (recipe below). Once cooked, carve or serve whole, with vegetables and gravy on the side! Enjoy!

Prepped and ready for the oven:

Finished and ready to serve:

Bacon Wrapped Herb Chicken:
Materials:
1 Medium whole chicken
1/2 lb Bacon (I like double smoked if I can find it)
1 Lemon sliced thinly (optional)
2 Large Onions
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Sprig of Rosemary
1/4 tsp Sage
1 lb Carrots (cut in finger sized pieces)
2.5 lbs  Red or Yellow Potatoes (cut into 1.5" cubes)
Salt
Pepper
Water

Methods: 
Preheat oven to: 325 F
Clean and prep the chicken as described. Cut onions into quarters and peel garlic. Place chicken in roasting pan, breast side up. Season chicken with salt, pepper and sage. Place a few slices of onion and cloves of garlic under the skin, placing the rest inside and around the chicken. If you want to add the lemon, place a few thin slices under the breast skin and inside. Lay strips of bacon across the top of the chicken, covering the breasts, legs and wings--place remaining bacon in the base of the pan. Cut the rosemary sprig in half, placing half inside the chicken and the other half in the base of the pan. Add carrots and potatoes around chicken. Add 1 inch of water to the bottom of the roaster before placing in the oven. Cook 30 minutes per pound, until bacon is crispy. Remove bacon and turn heat up to 375 for 20-30 minutes to brown up the skin (this is also the time to remove broth to make gravy). Serve with gravy! Enjoy!

Prepped and ready to go:

Ready to serve:

Classic Chicken Gravy:
Materials:
2-3 cups Chicken stock/broth (preferably from a currently roasting chicken)
Chicken bouillon
~1/3 cup Flour
~ 1 cup Water
Salt
Pepper

Useful tools: Salad dressing shaker

Methods:
Combine flour and water in shaker and mix until smooth (you want the mixture to be approximately the consistency of thin pancake batter, so adjust as necessary with water/flour). Heat chicken broth/stock in pot until boiling. Adjust the flavour of the broth/stock with bouillon and/or salt (ideally you want this to be a BIT salty, because the thickening liquid will dilute it a bit). Slowly begin adding the flour and water mixture (add about half to start with), whisking constantly. Bring the gravy back to a boil before adding more thickening. Add thickening to desired consistency. Serve over chicken and potatoes.

Pro tip: If you prefer your gravy smooth, strain it after thickening. This recipe can make great beef gravy as well, just replace the word "chicken" with "beef" in the recipe.