Roast Your Own Damn Chicken
If you are tired of paying $10.00+ for two chicken breasts, or tired of just chicken breast in general, roasting your own chicken can be a good way to save money, add in some variety, and cook enough for a few meals all at once. ( or enough for a family, i’m single though so this was around 4 meals for me. ) A whole chicken only cost me $9.33 and it is the perfect time of year to roast up some delicious root veggies with it so everything is done all at once. If you want to go the extra mile you can even use the carcass to make chicken stock. If that is getting too Martha Stewart for you, thats okay you can skip it. Or hell, if you don’t want to cook and have all the money, buy all this shit from whole foods. Why are you still reading this?
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
Carrots ( it depends on the size but I used 3 )
Turnips ( I only used one )
Rutabaga ( I used half of a massive one )
Parsnips ( I used two, but kinda wish I used 3 )
1/2 yellow onion
4 whole garlic cloves
Avocado or Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Compound Ghee
1/4 cup ghee ( you can use butter, all I had was ghee but ghee is also a great choice as it doesn’t burn during the roasting process, and it is lactose free )
Fresh herbs: Rosemary, Thyme, Sage
1/2 tsp. Salt
STEP ONE
Peel and dice veggies ( didn’t peel the carrots though) Keep them all relatively the same size. I did a large dice so that they didn’t cook too quickly as the chicken takes about an hour in the oven. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and throw them in whole with the veggies. ( roasted garlic is sweet and delicious but also gives off an amazing aroma ).
Toss the veggies with a little bit of oil and season well with salt and pepper. You don’t need a whole lot of oil because the ghee and drippings from the chicken will melt and drop down and coat the veggies.
STEP TWO
Place 1/4 cup of ghee in a small cup or bowl, and finely chop fresh herbs.
Mix the herbs and salt into the ghee and mix well with a fork. I just took the ghee and rolled it out on my cutting board to form a log, and then cut it into smaller pieces to stick under the skin of the chicken.
Now you will want to stick your fingers under the skin of the chicken breast to separate it so there is room for the ghee. This will feel very naughty. Embrace it.
As you can see, the ghee is nicely placed underneath the skin. This will keep the breast nice and moist. Now drizzle a little oil all over the bird and season generously with salt and pepper and extra herbs if you wish.
Place in the oven at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Rotate chicken at 30 minutes and let cook for about another 30. You will want a meat thermometer for this so that you don’t over or undercook your bird. Pull the chicken from the oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Dinner is served.
All done! It’s pretty straightforward. You can’t really mess it up, but if you do that’s okay. You will get it next time!
