Hello, chicken.
I’m going to cook you for dinner tonight. Oh, yes, I am.
Mom, are you sure you want to cook a whole chicken for dinner tonight?! Remember what happened the last time?
Mom, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t my dog who was worried about my cooking skills. Even since I nearly blew up the house trying to make Engagement Chicken, I’ve been hesitant to cook a whole chicken– mostly because I have no idea how to do it. (I think I just got lucky with the Engagement Chicken! 
)
So, this afternoon, I sent a tweet looking for roasted chicken recipes. Allison replied with a link to Martha Stewart’s Perfect Roast Chicken. Exactly what I was looking for! And I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Perfect! 
But, you guys know how I am with recipes. I never follow them exactly and sort of do my own thing, so here’s what I did to make my chicken dinner this evening:
I preheated the oven to 425*F. Then, I (well, Mal) removed the giblets and excess fat from the chicken cavity.
I rinsed the chicken inside and out under cold running water and dried it thoroughly with paper towels.
Next, I liberally sprinkled the outside and inside cavity of the chicken with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
I spread softened butter all over the entire surface of chicken. Then, I stuffed a few sprigs of fresh thyme inside the cavity as well as in the pan and on top of the chicken.
Finally, I placed the chicken in the oven and roasted it until the skin turned a deep golden brown, crispy, and the juices ran clear when pierced, about 1.5 hours.
Once I removed chicken from oven, I let it stand for about 10 to 15 minutes before carving it.
Well, Mal carved it. Isn’t that a guy thing?
The chicken turned out SO WELL!!! 
I actually impressed myself and Mal could not stop raving about it. (I think he was a little shocked that it tasted so delicious considering how long I was fumbling around in the kitchen!)
With the chicken, I made a bunch of side dishes, including my favorite Roasted Broccoli recipe.
Sweet Potato Fries with ground flaxseed meal.
And store-brand rice pilaf from a box. My husband was very impressed with this meal. He doesn’t always eat this good!
For dessert, I brought back one of my favorite treats: Sandwich Thin + peanut butter + chocolate & peanut butter chips. Best snack ever!
It’s been quite the day, so I’m unplugging for the rest of the night.
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who left supportive comments on this morning’s post. It means so, so, so much to me.
Good night! Enjoy the evening!
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Roast chicken.. one of the most delicious things to come out of a kitchen!
And I didn’t respond on the earlier post but I am also FULLY behind you in this Marie Claire thing.. the article was insane and completely untrue.
I know that this post is about the chicken, but I think that you definitely saved the best for last. That little dessert looks so good and easy and I just happen to have some left over chocolate chips
I agree that it’s definitely the man’s job to handle the giblets (yes, pun intended) as well as carving the chicken!
The big question is, did you convince Murphy that you really can cook a whole chicken?
Roasting a Chicken is the easiest thing to do! also you should roast it breast side up, you had the back up. ina garten has great recipes but its pretty basic you should know that.
Awesome culinary skills! Dinner looks delicious, especially those fries!! Just wanted to let you know how much I love and am grateful for your blog, thank you for always inspiring!! And thanks to Murph for always making me smile
You dinner looks delicious! Congratulations on conquering that chicken!
You make roasting a WHOLE chicken sound so easy. I’ll have make this closer to Xmas for my boyfriend.. mmm… delicious!
Ok ok, I’m going to try to make a chicken too. Never done it, but you make it (everything) look easy! My fav part of your post is Murphy talking. That is the BEST! I hope he continues to tell us funny things.
I always feel so accomplished after I cook a WHOLE chicken.
I love roast chicken! Here is my recipe, adapted from Thomas Keller’s:
http://sweetersalt.com/2010/09/22/the-perfect-roast-chicken/
Laura
I’ve always been way too intimidated to try roasting a whole chicken. You make it seem so easy!
You should try making a whole chicken in a crock pot next time! I do it every time and it is sooo simple — throw everything in with some chicken broth/stock and it comes out so moist and flavorful. You don’t even have to carve it — it falls right off the bone. I’m going to do that soon and then use the chicken and stock to make a chicken noodle soup to freeze and eat throughout the fall.
Have you ever tried roasting a chicken in the crockpot? It’s surprisingly easy and comes out perfect every time!
And on the MC article…I did think it was really unfair and biased, but at least she went less hard on you than on the other bloggers. I’ve always thought your blog shows pretty close to a normal and healthy American diet–you eat out, you drink beer and wine, you make normal desserts (with butter!)–you just do it all in moderation! And that’s what I love about your blog.
@Beth: I don’t own a crockpot!?! Isn’t that terrible?? I really need to buy one.
Thanks for your kind words about the MC article!
That almost looks easy enough for me to make!
My husband would love it too; he rarely eats meat since I don’t eat it.
Awesome job on the chicken. I’m a bit intimidated to cook one of these babies myself. Hats off to you!
Ina Garten has great recipes for roasted chicken too. I’ve found slicing lemons or oranges and a few slices of onion in the cavity, and this is a must, a celery stick or two depending on how big the bird is. I’m telling you, this is what will make it super moist.
Also, some slices of bacon wrapped on the outside too, YUM.
what a great looking fall meal
YUM! I actually like to brine whole chicken before roasting it. Makes it extremely moist and flavorful!
It looks really good but I think you roasted it upside down
I have been roasting whole chickens since my teens and it really is pretty easy.
Breast side up and the thickest part is the breast, the inside is hollow (except for a lemon or onion or both) so you only have to cook till the breast is done.
Yours looked awesome, and I am sure it tasted fantastic, you did a great job.
← Previous Comments