Perfect Roasted Chicken

I am very excited it's not 110 degrees outside anymore because I can finally use my oven again!

Seriously, in the summer if I turn on the oven, my house is nearly 80 when I go to bed. No m'am.

This week we ate out of our freezer and pantry mostly. I stopped at the store Friday afternoon and grabbed a handful of veggies, some pasta sauce, and fruit to help fill in any gaps. So far this week I made the following things all from ingredients on hand:

Sunday: Thai Curry chicken in the crockpot.
Monday: Roasted Chicken and Veggies
Tuesday: Stir fry veggies and chicken with rice
Wednesday: Grilled BBQ Wings and corn
Thursday: due to rain making me take an hour to get home, lee picked up Pizza :)

Tonight I am out at a work event so Lee is on his own.

Oh yeah, there was a point...

I am so happy that I was able to make us one of our old favorites - which is overly simple to do.

Here is how I made it.

14" Oven-Proof skillet
Tiny potatoes, cut in half (cooks faster)
Baby Carrots cut in half (cooks faster)
Asparagus
White Wine
3.5 pd chicken
Lemon and herbs

Oven - 425 degrees (mine has convection option and I used it)

Prep the carrots and potates and place them on the outskirts of the skillet. Drizzle a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place a lemon cut in half inside the chicken. Stuff in whatever herbs you have - I happen to have a maniac rosemary bush in the backyard and a little thyme so I used that.
Truss the chicken. Is this important? YES. The reason is that it keeps the chicken compact and it cooks more evenly.
Drizzle a little oil on the chicken and salt and pepper the entire outside.
Place the chicken in the middle of the skillet.
Pour about 1/4 cup of wine (or chicken broth) in the bottom.

Put in the oven and FORGET ABOUT IT for an ENTIRE HOUR.

Leave it alone. Let it do it's thing.

After an hour, pull the skillet out and add your asparagus (or green beans, whatev) and put back in for 15 minutes.

That's it.

Don't poke the chicken while it's cooking.
Don't look at it sideways while it's cooking.
Don't talk to it while it's cooking.

Leave it alone!

Now - bigger chickens take longer. To check the chicken without poking it, I always cut the skin between the leg and breast and gently pull away from the breast. If it's still pink I give it another 15 min. Most people start hacking at the breast since it's the thickest part but then all the yummy juices just run out and you are left with dry chicken.

Why a skillet? Because for a chicken, I feel like the roasting pan is too large. The veggies get all spread out and any cooking fat and juices from the chicken just run to the edge of the pan and burn. This method keeps everything cozy and happy. 

Lee proclaimed that I could make this every night and he would be happy.

Let me know how yours turned out!