Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

I watch a lot of cooking shows and I am always impressed when they prepare a simple roast chicken.  The skin looks so crispy, salty and delicious while you know the meat underneath has remained perfectly moist and succulent.  What an intimidating meal to prepare though – I mean, you are working with a WHOLE chicken!  Where do you even begin?  My first go-round with roast chicken went pretty well, although it took me twice as long to prepare as it does now.  Practice does make perfect and I think I have it down with this rosemary roast chicken.  I took a few key elements from several recipes, mixed and matched and came up with this combo – my personal favorite.  It will never fail to impress and you have the added advantage of a one-pot meal.  Savor every bite.  It really is something to be proud of… not to mention incredibly tasty!

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Start by prepping the vegetables.  I typically use whatever is in my fridge and needs to be cooked within the next couple of days.  I particularly enjoy zucchini and red onions with this dish – I love the way their flavor develops when they are roasted.  I used three small carrots, one half of a green bell pepper, one yellow squash, one zucchini, one half of a red onion and two cloves garlic.  You can always throw potatoes in as well.

Toss the vegetables together with salt, pepper and olive oil.  Set aside.

Here is it – the dreaded WHOLE chicken.  It’s actually quite easy to work with.  Just be prepared to wash your hands three or four dozen times while you prep.  It’s an annoying but very important rule.  Begin by rinsing the inside and outside of the bird with water and then pat dry with paper towels.  Make sure you get as much of the moisture off of the skin as possible – it will help the skin to become crisp and brown.  Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.

For the stuffing, I use one lemon cut into eight pieces, a whole head of garlic sliced horizontally and two large sprigs of rosemary.  Put half of the lemon all the way into the bird, followed by one half of the garlic bulb and one sprig of rosemary.  Repeat, stuffing the remaining items in tightly.  Mixing up the stuffing ensures that the juice from the lemon and savory aromas from the rosemary and garlic are equally distributed through the inside of the chicken.

My favorite part of this entire chicken is the crispy skin on the breast meat.  After trial and error, I found that rubbing butter between the meat and the skin does the trick.  When does butter ever lead us astray?  It is even tastier when mixed with rosemary, helping to distribute the herbal goodness throughout the entire dish.  Take two tbs of room temperature, unsalted butter and mix with one tsp chopped rosemary.  Chop an additional tsp of rosemary and set aside.

Working from the head of the chicken, lift the skin to expose the breast.  You will see a thin membrane that attaches the skin to the meat.  Gently break this seal with your fingers and slowly rub your fingers up the breast, detaching the skin from the breast, making room for the butter.  Word of warning – remove rings for this part – they will tear the skin.

Using your fingers, push the butter in between the skin and the breast meat slipping it as far back as possible.  Spread the butter over the entire area keeping it as even as possible.  Repeat on the other side.

Drizzle olive oil, a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper and the remaining chopped rosemary over the top of the chicken.  Carefully use your hands to spread the olive oil out, covering all sides of the bird.

Tie back the legs and secure with kitchen twine.  This will help the chicken to cook evenly.  Spread the vegetables out around the bird.  Roast for one hour and five minutes to one hour and fifteen minutes, depending on the size of the chicken.  This chicken was 3.75 lbs (perfect size for two people) and took just one hour five minutes.  You can tell if the meat is cooked through by inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast.  You are looking for 160 degrees.  Remove from the oven and tent with foil.  Let rest for 10 minutes.

OH MY GOSH THIS CHICKEN IS SOOO GOOD!  The skin is salty, juicy and crispy and the chicken breast is perfectly tender, not one bit dry and is bursting with flavor from the rosemary and butter we applied directly on the skin.  And then there are the vegetables – warm and rich with crisped edges and bursting with all of the flavor they absorbed from the chicken.  The hard work paid off – and there is no doubt you have something to show for it.  So don’t be scared.  It’s just a chicken after all.

• three small carrots, peeled and chopped
• one half of a green bell pepper, chopped into large pieces
• one yellow squash, sliced into one quarter inch pieces
• one zucchini, sliced into one quarter inch pieces
• one half red onion, chopped into large pieces
• two garlic cloves, minced
• one tsp kosher salt
• one tsp freshly ground black pepper
• four tbs olive oil, divided
• one whole chicken, 3.5-4 pounds
• one lemon cut into eight pieces
• one whole head of garlic, sliced horizontally
• two large sprigs of rosemary
• two tbs of unsalted butter at room temperature
• two tsp minced rosemary, divided
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• kitchen twine