Once upon a time this recipe didn’t need to be a recipe. It was something you learned to make from your mother or grandmother by watching her every Sunday.
* NOTE: This recipe can be used for turkey too! *
Nowadays, most young adults moving out of the house have no idea how to roast a chicken, let alone put together a proper meal.
I’m here to solve that problem, whether you’ve been out of your childhood home for five minutes or five years. The most difficult part of this recipe is going to be finding the space in your refrigerator to put a big tub/pot of water filled with a chicken to brine overnight. Hint: brining solves all your roasting problems, overnight.
So … first things first. To properly make this dish, you will need to prep it the day before. Yes, the prep takes a full 24 hours. But, don’t worry, hands-on time is about 5 minutes. So, go grab a big ‘ol bucket, Tupperware, stock pot or what you have on hand. Make sure your chicken is thawed out and fits inside of it so it’s completely submerged under water.
Next, take your chicken out of the packaging and remove the giblets inside the bird. These will be things like the neck, the liver and the heart. You can set these aside for now. There are plenty of recipes to use them online but I usually just add them to the bone broth when I make it later. Gently wash the bird under room temperature water and set aside.
Prepare the brine by filling your container half full of tepid water and adding the salt and pepper. Stir to dissolve the salt then add the herbs and onion. Place the bird in the water and add just enough water to cover the bird. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator overnight.
When ready to roast, preheat your oven to 400˚. Remove the chicken from the brine and dispose of the brine. You never want to use water or liquid that has touched raw meat. Thoroughly dry the chicken. Then, take your hand and separate the skin from each breast by sliding your hand up under the skin from the bottom of the chicken. This is where you’ll place some butter, herbs and lemon slices.
This is messy business as you already know if you just followed the previous instruction. Your fingernails will be caked with butter but in the end, it will all be worth it for a moist, juicy bird.
I like to roast my birds on big, half sheet baking pans but you can do it in a pretty roasting pan. I also use a digital thermometer like this one. It ensures that the bird is done perfectly, every time. I don’t like guessing. Having a thermometer that calls you back to the kitchen when the bird is done is priceless!
Prepare your butter mixture by adding the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to it and mixing well.
Take your fingertips and scoop up a bit of seasoned butter and slide it underneath the skin of the breasts as far up into the bird as possible, coating it as thoroughly as you can. It will be slippery.
Spread the outside of the bird liberally with more seasoned butter and place it in the oven.
Roast at 400˚ for 30 minutes then reduce heat to 350˚ for the remainder of the time. Roasting on an upper rack close to the top of the oven will give you the best color on the skin.
Remove the chicken from the oven when the thermometer reads 160˚. The temperature will rise a bit once you take it out of the oven. Rest the meat with a foil cover on it to retain moisture and heat.
Serve with these sides for the perfect Sunday meal.
Grandma Dagen’s Stuffing Balls
[tasty-recipe id=”4269″]