Special Sunday: Roast Chicken

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Sunday dinner was often chicken when I was a child. Fried chicken, that is. In lard, of course. My mother never roasted the bird. She left that for the Thanksgiving turkey. Beats me why it never occurred to her she could roast chicken, too.

Even if she had, however, I’d put money on her not ever preparing it like I do as a slow roast to keep it juicy and moist. Unfortunately, it did get a little done-r than I’d like as the picture shows, but with those roasted Brussel sprouts, it was mighty tasty and made enough for the two of us to have other chicken meals with the leftovers. I call this my Norman Rockwell Roast Chicken because it is so bedrock American.

Norman Rockwell Roast Chicken (serves 6)

3-4# roasting chicken, washed and patted dry inside and out

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 tablespoon pepper

Preheat oven to 250º. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking dish or pan big enough so the chicken doesn’t touch the sides.

Spread butter over the outside. Rub it on every surface. Any drippings in the pan can be used to spread around inside the chicken.

Mix together the salt and pepper and sprinkle half inside and half on the top of the chicken.

Roast for 3-3 ½ hours. Check temperature. The chicken is done at 165º internal temperature.

Put the au jus from the chicken over the top. Let sit 10 minutes. Carve and serve with pan juices.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

He always takes the breast meat first. I always take a leg/thigh section. He also pulls off the crispy skin (where the fat is), and I eat it all. We’re funny that way! “It’s a simple meal, but I feel so virtuous eating something so plain, with no sauces.” And no crispy, crunchy, fatty skin, big boy!