Are you ready to roast? Let's get started!I didn't take a picture of the bag of giblets that is inside of the chicken. It is not pleasant to look at, simply remove and discard in your trash. Honestly, I'm not sure what they are used for. Does anyone know??
I use the following simple ingredients to roast a chicken:
- roasting chicken
- 1 lemon
- 1 head garlic
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 Tbsp butter
- salt
- pepper
Cut the lemon in half. Cut one of the halves of the lemon into slices.Cut the head of garlic in half. I remove most of the outer papery skin, but it is okay if it still had some of the paper on.
Mix together about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Stuff the cavity of the bird with both halves of the garlic, one half of the lemon, about 15 sprigs of parsley, and the salt/pepper mixture. 
One of the main reasons why I like Perdue Oven Stuffers is because of the pop-up thermometers(see picture below) that they have on their roasting chickens.Note the wings sticking out, simply tuck them under the chicken to avoid burning.
Rub the butter all over the chicken.
Take knife and slide it under the skin to separate from the meat. Insert lemon slices under the skin on each side of the breast.
Break the leftover butter into tiny pieces and sprinkle over the chicken. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper over the chicken.
If you have kitchen string, tie the legs together to hold the garlic and lemon in the cavity. If you don't have kitchen string, no worries, I have roasted many birds without tying the legs together.
Bake the chicken at 375 degrees. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and the temperature of your oven. It took this 7.4 lb chicken exactly 2 hours to roast. The nice thing about Perdue is that their roasters come with pop-up thermometers that let you know when the chicken is done. Otherwise I would use a meat thermometer and roast the whole chicken until it reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees. The thermometer should be placed in the thickest part of the cut of meat without touching the bone, per Perdue's guidelines.
When it is time to cut into the chicken, take a knife down the center breast bone and cut the breast out of the chicken. This is my favorite part. My kids and husband like the legs.
Cut as much meat of as possible. The evening I roasted this chicken, we had it for dinner with the roasted vegetables. I cut up 2 cups of chicken for a pot pie, I froze 2 cups to be used for soup at a later date and I used what was left to make chicken salad for lunches.
I did make gravy for dinner, but things got crazy as dinner was approaching and I didn't get photos of the gravy making process. I'll plan that for a later post.
After you have picked the bird clean of all of the meat, DO NOT throw the carcass away. Use it to make homemade crock-pot chicken broth. It really stretches that $5.85 chicken even further.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan, breast side up. On this particular night, I roasted some vegetables that I had on hand: potatoes and carrots. If you would like, spread the vegetables around the chicken.
Rub the butter all over the chicken.
Take knife and slide it under the skin to separate from the meat. Insert lemon slices under the skin on each side of the breast.
Break the leftover butter into tiny pieces and sprinkle over the chicken. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper over the chicken.
If you have kitchen string, tie the legs together to hold the garlic and lemon in the cavity. If you don't have kitchen string, no worries, I have roasted many birds without tying the legs together.
Bake the chicken at 375 degrees. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and the temperature of your oven. It took this 7.4 lb chicken exactly 2 hours to roast. The nice thing about Perdue is that their roasters come with pop-up thermometers that let you know when the chicken is done. Otherwise I would use a meat thermometer and roast the whole chicken until it reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees. The thermometer should be placed in the thickest part of the cut of meat without touching the bone, per Perdue's guidelines.
When the chicken is done, let it rest for 20 minutes under some foil before cutting into it. If you cut into too early, the juices will run out and dry out your chicken.
When it is time to cut into the chicken, take a knife down the center breast bone and cut the breast out of the chicken. This is my favorite part. My kids and husband like the legs.
Cut as much meat of as possible. The evening I roasted this chicken, we had it for dinner with the roasted vegetables. I cut up 2 cups of chicken for a pot pie, I froze 2 cups to be used for soup at a later date and I used what was left to make chicken salad for lunches.
I did make gravy for dinner, but things got crazy as dinner was approaching and I didn't get photos of the gravy making process. I'll plan that for a later post.
After you have picked the bird clean of all of the meat, DO NOT throw the carcass away. Use it to make homemade crock-pot chicken broth. It really stretches that $5.85 chicken even further.
Side Note: To rinse or not to rinse...That is the question. I have read that rinsing a chicken is counter-productive and can cause cross-contamination. The USDA does not suggest that you rinse chickens. There is a chance that you are just spreading the harmful bacteria all over your sink and kitchen and you are not really getting rid of it on your chicken. The bacteria is killed during the roasting stage. It is very important to roast the chicken to the recommended internal temperature. I choose NOT to rinse the chicken. Although, I still scrub the sink thoroughly after the bird is in the oven.
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This post is linked to:
- 5 Dollar Dinners
- Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
- Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
- Tightwad Tuesday at Canada Girl
- Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop
- Frugal Fridays at Life As Mom
- Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
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