Roast Chicken w/ Sage Butter & Garlic
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I make a roast chicken most Friday nights for dinner (just call me Ina!).
I love to have leftovers for Saturday's lunch, and I make the same tried and true recipe for years.
This recipe from Olives and Oranges cookbook was one of Saveur Magazine's favorite ways to roast a bird.
You make a sage and garlic butter and rub it underneath the skin of the bird.
I usually use olive oil and stuff the bird with herbs, but this method was delicious!
I always buy a kosher chicken, which I have found to be so much tastier than a regular chicken. I think they are saltier too. The bed of roasted carrots and onions didn't hurt either. Loved it all.
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The only thing I changed was the cooking temperature.
The authors want you to roast the bird at 475F then turn the oven down to 400F.
I kept my oven at an even 425F, and the bird came out perfect.
Roast Chicken w/ Sage Butter & Garlic (adapted from Saveur):
4-lb. chicken
zest of a lemon (save the lemon for the inside of the chicken)
20 fresh sage leaves
3 cloves garlic
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
8 sprigs parsley
olive oil
2 small onions quartered
2 carrots, cut into 2" pieces
Make the butter:
Rinse chicken under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Add the lemon zest, sage, and garlic together; place in a bowl. Add butter and 1 tsp. salt. Stir to combine. Quarter the peeled lemon; set aside.
Using your fingers or a small, sharp knife, loosen skin of chicken from breasts and thighs. (Make sure your chicken skin has been blotted and dried w/ paper towels or the butter will slip off the skin).
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Slip butter mixture between skin and flesh, spreading it evenly. Rub skin with olive oil; season skin with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Stuff with quartered lemon, parsley, and 1 quartered onion. Tie legs together with kitchen twine, if you like.
Put remaining quartered onion and carrots into center of roasting pan and place chicken on top of them.
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Roast chicken about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165°.
Transfer chicken to a platter; let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
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Enjoy!
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Comments
Great looking bird Stacey and I love the carrots and sage. I think lemon makes a big difference too. I wish I could find Kosher chickens in our supermarket. One of the downsides of living in a small town in the country.
Sam
You are right about kosher chicken tastes better.
thanks!!
Lisa
Again, a beautiful recipe Stacey
Here is some information on what makes a chicken "kosher".
It has to do w/ cleaner chickens and a more humane way of slaughtering, as well as some other aspects....read on.
http://www.alljewishlinks.com/kosher-chicken-what-makes-a-chicken-kosher-or-not/