adventure in the kitchen // roasting my first whole chicken

well i successfully did it! i roasted my first whole chicken on monday night and i am mighty proud of myself. i don't know why i consider this such a "success", maybe it is because i had no idea what i was doing but it was probably one of the simplest, delicious meals i have made. i have been wanting to do this for months but would chicken out (pun intended) every time. but after continuously reading how simple roasting a chicken was, i knew i had to try. but i couldn't have done it on my own- before embarking on this task i consulted the experts on the matter, aka  martha stewart. who i forgot to consult was julia (childs), but i plan on using her methods next time!

herb-roasted chicken

1 whole chicken (between 3-4 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 parsley
1 lemon
2 stocks of celery, halved lengthwise
3 medium carrots, cut into 3-inch lengths
1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
butter, at room temperature


1. preheat oven to 450 degrees. season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper and set aside. squeeze lemon juice on top of chicken and  stuff cavity with parsley and lemon remains.

2. in  a large bowl, toss celery, carrots, and potatoes with oil, season with salt and pepper. place vegetables in roasting pan, i placed them like they said to do here (watch the video) and placed the potatoes around the sides of the pan, then place chicken on top. pour wine into pan. add slices of butter onto the chicken skin to get a nice, crispy roast.

3. roast until chicken is golden brown (with a instant read thermometer it should read 165), about 1 hour.

i have to say that i am surprised at how easy this meal was ( and to think i was SO nervous before taking on this task) and i am so proud of myself for it turning out. life is all about these little victories not to mention it is even more of a 'win' when the cooking was simple, tasty, and healthy.

now that i have successfully roasted my first chicken i have starting thinking about the idea of roasting a weekly chicken. it is an easy way to "multitask" in the kitchen. you get to eat a roast chicken for dinner one night, eating it with the vegetables in the pan for one meal, then you have leftover meat from the chicken that can be used for soups, lunches (think- sandwiches, wraps, salads, pasta), and even maybe another dinner (think quick stir fry!). how glorious is that. i have even read that you can roast a chicken on low with a crock pot for 8 hours, think of coming home to the sweet wine sauce and a nicely cooked chicken hanging out in the crock pot for ya ;)

overall, i do have to say i think my first roast chicken was a great success and i am so excited for all of my chickens to come ;) if anyone has a recipe or two for roasting a whole chicken i would love to hear them! i am going to be experimenting with this for a while.