There’s such a lovely family feel to having a whole roasted chicken served for dinner! It offers a nice, home-coming warmth to it than when serving a tray of legs, wings and breast with the same flavors and roasting method. A bit of a Norman Rockwell presence to it!
Now, I am very aware the local grocery as well as the nearby Boston Market offer a whole roasted chicken, ready to go at a reasonable price; pick it up, bring it home, deliver to the family and dinner is done! And I know those roasted chickens do look rather tasty… sometimes. Sometimes they actually are rather tasty… sometimes. But, those chickens are more than likely raised in a manner that is inhumane, grain-fed and cramped in a warehouse farm factory. And they were probably pumped with injections of antibiotics, hormones and/or steroids, possibly never even having the joy of walking in their lifetime! The chicken is cheap for a reason. Look at a bit of an explanation from www.eatwild.com
Cheap chicken. You get what you pay for.
To bring us cheap chicken, commercial producers have been dramatically speeding the growth rate of broilers. In 1950, chickens took 12 weeks to reach four pounds. Today, through a combination of selective breeding, growth promoters, and high-energy feed, broilers reach four pounds in just six weeks. This speedy growth saves us money at the check-out stand.
It also kills a growing number of birds. Commercial chickens grow so quickly that their hearts and lungs can barely sustain them. As the demand for oxygen increases, their hearts beat more rapidly. If the demand continues, their right ventricles become enlarged and eventually fail.
More and more consumers are rejecting this false economy.. They are choosing to pay more for healthy birds that are raised outdoors without the use of growth promoters or feed antibiotics. Their families get a richer supply of vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids in the bargain.
And about those omega-3 fatty acids, more from the same site www.eatwild.com here:
Important aspect to think about when buying chicken! Or eggs! I wrote about pasture-raised chicken in my blog about Happy Poached Eggs.
When getting yourself those store-bought roasted whole chickens, the roasting method more than likely has marinade and flavors that include chemicals and tons of salt along with unnecessary added sugar and other ingredients you really just don’t need. There are options to buy an organic, pasture-raised chicken at some locations and I do pick them up myself. They taste great and by looking at the ingredients you’ll be able to see if the seasoning or spices or additional additives include unwanted ingredients such as Carrageenan.
If you’d like to roast your own Norman Rockwell-esq dinner, getting more nutrients such as Omega3 from your chicken, here in this recipe you’ve got your (local) pasture-raised chicken and simple ingredients! You know exactly where your food came from and what’s in your food and meal!
Just down the mountain road from my house is the best little local store, Greenwood Lake Garden Center and Farmer’s Market! They sell great cuts of local (pasture raised and grass fed) meat as well as local vegetables, farm fresh eggs, honey and plenty of other items! All year round!
Snapshot of their website and a bit about Stacey and Warren, the owners! There’s another girl I see more often who is so nice and so helpful! The place is fantastic! And very local! When I support them I’m supporting their local business, my local economy and as some of their revenue goes back to local farmers and local businesses, it’s a wonderful cycle to support! Their Facebook page is great and informative too!
I can pick up frozen meats knowing I’ve chosen healthy local chicken or beef and so on! And for me, cooking is a form of therapy along with a great learning experience, so I wanted to roast a whole chicken using only fresh and minimal ingredients! Here’s a rather easy roasted chicken recipe that will deliver you a fantastically flavorful nutritiously healthy well-fed whole roasted chicken at home contributing to your Whole Well-Being! Recipe inspiration is from www.nomnompaleo.com! Great site to get paleo recipes!
To begin, my whole chicken was frozen, so I let thaw in fridge for a day.
Place a skillet or oven safe pan in the oven set at 450 F. Remember, this skillet or pan will GET HOT!!! NOOOO TOUCHY!!! (And please ignore the fact that I need to clean my oven. I use it pretty much every day.)
The giblets were removed already and I smothered Ghee all over the skin and then covered the ghee with plenty of sea salt, ground black pepper and added some dried rosemary. Tied the legs together and tried to tuck the wings in but they ended up getting a little burnt on their edges.
Place chicken in HOT skillet and let roast for about 35 minutes. My chicken was still very cold inside so it took a little more than an hour! You want your thermometer to read 160F with the thighs being at 175F
I turned off the oven a let sit. I was having some serious smoke come from my skillet with the ghee so I did a transfer. REMEMBER THE SKILLET OR PAN WILL BE HOT! I did not remember this and put my hand to move the skillet, OUCH!!!!!!! I’m ok. I have an aloe plant sitting right on my kitchen window sill to help me with such mishaps and I have leftover frozen water packets that are shapes of tubes to be put into water bottles, I was able to hold them to relieve the pain. Hurt with a burning sensation for a solid four hours, then it was fine.
And there you have it! Dinner is served! The meat was tender and flavorful and the outside had a nice crisp to it with simple but yummy flavor! Don’t throw the bones out! Save them! Tomorrow, we’re making healthy chicken bone stock/broth! Then we’ll use it with the leftover chicken meat to make some Chicken Egg Noodle Soup!
And from this site www.ifitshipitshere.com I found some great parodies of the Norman Rockwell painting from above. Because if life is no Norman Rockwell painting you can always make it your own! My favorite…
Nico’s…
Kali’s…
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- 1 3-4 lb pasture-raised whole chicken
- 1 tbsp salt or less depending on preference
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp dried rosemary optional
- 1 tbsp ghee could be melted however if chicken is cold it will solidify. Melt and pour over chicken and when it gets hard just press it in place.
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 450 F and place a cast iron skillet or oven save pan in oven to get HOT.
- Combine salt, pepper and rosemary.
- Rinse chicken and remove giblets. Pat dry.
- Smoother chicken with ghee; if melted ghee hardens because the chicken is cold, it's okay, just have it pressed in place best you can. Then add salt/pepper/rosemary all over.
- Tie legs together and using oven mitt, place chicken on HOT skillet. Skillet is HOT! Don't burn yourself! Roast for 30-40 minutes, until thermometer reaches 160F; 175F for thighs. If chicken was frozen it will take longer, closer to an hour.
- Let sit for a few minutes then enjoy!