Roasted Chicken

Oh my goodness. Half way through this process I wondered if I was insane - then I called on every fiber in my body that comes from my Great Gramma Bauer to help me. If she could cut the head off a chicken to serve it for dinner then I can stick my hand up it's butt to pull out the bag of inerds.

I am getting ahead of myself.

I had a bur up my own butt to make a roast chicken. I am not a huge chicken fan. It has no great taste to me. It seems it must be thoroughly doctored up before it takes on any great flavor. I don't cook a lot of chicken and when I do I make sure it is at least corn fed.
This week I "splurged" on a free-range whole chicken from Trader Joe's. It was a little under twelve dollers. I took it out of the freezer around noon and of course by 5pm prep time it was still quite the little poultry iceburg. So I hit it with some hot water, lots of hot water.
Finally it reached a smooshiness that I thought would be acceptable to work with, I was not ready for the "foul" smell as I unwrapped it.
I knew I had to get liver and goodies out of the cavity and I was praying they would be in a tidy little bag but first I had to figure out the bumm from the shoulders. I visualized the poor thing alive and figured it out quite quickly. I lifted up a flap of fat and tried to fit my hand in the cavity. There was a bag in there but it was still frozen to the inside and it would not budge. I was so scared I was going to rip it and have to contend with the guts face to face. I filled that dang bird up with hot water and gave a few more tugs on the bag of goodies and finally wrestled it free. Then I went out to the garden and wrestled carrots from the cold dirt...let's just say the rest was a breeze. I simply stuffed a stale baguette where the bag was, rubbed it with herbs de Provence...well here is the recipe. Joel said it was THE best chicken he had ever had and Aidan had FOUR helpings!

Ingredients:
Salt and Pepper to taste (each preferably freshly ground.)
Paprika to taste
One fresh free range chicken
4 cloves of garlic (I prefer alot more than that)
Herbs de provence (thyme, bay, rosemary, oregano)
I slice stale bread
Olive oil, butter or duck fat
1 bunch of carrots, about 8 with greens attached to ensure freshness
2 medium yellow onions
2 Roma tomatoes, fresh and whole ( I skipped this cause sadly, I hate tomotes)
1 Glass of white wine (8-10 ounces) (I skipped this cause I only had red)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place salt, pepper and paprika inside the chicken cavity. Add one or two gloves of garlic and herbs de Provence. (Replace liver, heart and gizzards if you eat them (no merci!) Rub the stale bread with one clove of garlic and stuff it in the cavity.
Don't bother to truss the chicken.
Rub the skin of the bird with the fat of your choice. I chose olive oil today. Season the outside with the same herbs your stuffed the chicken with.
In a low sided pan that has been lightly rubbed with oil, place the following: the seasoned chicken, the carrots (greens removed, peeled but whole); the onions (cut in half then into 4 wedges each); one clove of garlic. ( I added two cloves and while enjoying the meal wished I had added a few more, the were so good.)
Cook for at least one hour until the juice from a pricked thigh runs clear. A little longer is o.k. and little under is not.
When done, remove the chicken to a serving platter. Remove the vegetables and place them around the chicken.
Bring the remaining juice in the pan to a boil. Add salt and pepper and deglaze with a glass of water or white wine. When the liquid boils and reduces a bit pour it into a sauceboat and serve with the chicken and vegetables.

Bon Appetit!

Adapted from a lovely book you MUST buy: Joie de Vivre by Robert Arbor