Roasted Chicken

Our family loves a roasted chicken.  We have it once a week and why not?  It is inexpensive, easy to prepare, tastes great, reheats well for lunch the next day, and is a different meal each week when you pair it with different sides.

I have to admit, even though it's easy, we've had our share of mistakes.  You can under cook it, season it wrong for your family's tastes, or cook it to a crisp, but once you have it down it is a snap.  A whole roaster chicken is usually far less than a package of 3-4 boneless chicken breasts--it is usually about $5.  So make some mistakes!  And then, you will have a full proof meal that your family will always feel is nourishing and fulfilling.

Tonight we had it with a mix of green beans, cauliflower, peas, romanesco, and a little garlic butter sauce, and roasted polenta slices. 

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken, cleaned, legs trussed with kitchen twine

kosher salt

ground sage

ground or fresh thyme

a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Use kosher salt to generously salt the cavity.  Add sage, thyme, and any other desired herbs.  You can add onion and/or lemon to the cavity but you will have to add about 30 minutes to the cooking time.  Rub the outside skin with butter and lightly season with salt.  Cook about 90-115 minutes until instant read thermometer reads 180 in the breast.

And it's the weekend, right?  Oh, wait, it is only Thursday!?  You've got to be kidding me!  Well, I served a cocktail like we were kicking off the weekend and it was delicious!  My husband and I enjoyed a new concoction--a HONEY SIDECAR!  The perfect drink when you want to pretend it is the weekend.

Honey Sidecar

1 oz Cointreau

2 oz American Honey bourbon

1 oz sour mix

Shake with ice and serve up in a martini glass.  YUM!