Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Roasted Whole Chicken and Broccoli and Cheese

Enough pizza already!  I never thought I would feel that way.  However, after eating pizza seven times since Saturday, I decided we needed a non-pizza meal.  I think Jacob agreed because he went stuffed himself with the chicken and broccoli we had for supper tonight. 

I steamed some broccoli in the steam insert of my pot for about 4 minutes.  I sprinkle the broccoli with salt and a small amount of shredded Cheddar cheese. 

Roasting a whole chicken at home is really easy and makes for great leftovers.  And, buying a chicken whole is cheaper than buying it cut into pieces.  I based my recipe on the roasted chicken in James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.  The chicken was moist and tender. 

Ingredients
butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lemon
seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
Remove neck/gizzards/liver from chicken cavity (doing this is not as bad as it sounds).  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan.  Soften 4 Tab of butter.  Stir in salt and pepper.  Place butter mixture inside cavity.  Rub chicken with lemon. Turn chicken on its side and brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle with seasoned salt.
Bake 20 minutes, or until side of chicken is golden brown.  Carefully turn chicken on the its other side and repeat, baking 20 more minutes.  Turn chicken so the back is up and repeat, baking 20 more minutes. Turn chicken so the breast is up and repeat, baking 20 more minutes, or until chicken registers 165 degrees on a thermometer.
Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes.  Carve and serve.   

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