Roast Chicken Recipe - Boil. Fry. Bake

Yes, I posted a roast chicken recipe very recently. I do not need a Twelve Step program for chicken addicts, okay? I can quit making roast chicken any time I want. I just don’t want to. And I have an excuse; Whole Foods had Mary’s Air Chilled chickens on sale for half price last week. Who could resist? They are cleanly fed, humanely raised and not processed with a hefty chlorinated water soaking to increase their weight without giving the consumer any extra protein. Plus I really don’t need a soupcon of swimming pool flavoring in my chicken.

This time I kept the bird whole and doused it with my new favorite rub, Santa Maria Seasoning from Scott’s Food Products. It’s a coarse salt, pepper and garlic powder (plus multiple secret spices, I am sure) rub I use on steak, pork and chicken and somehow it works on all of them. They have not ever sent me products. I buy it myself and if it was awful I would say so!

Anyway, after spicing it all over, I drizzled olive oil on top. I put the chicken in the pan breast side up for 45 minutes at 425 degrees. Then I flipped it and turned it down to 325 degrees for another 20 minutes. When doing this technique you turn the oven off after the final 20 minutes and assemble the rest of your dinner, run a short errand, it doesn’t matter. This seems to “set” the meat. But don’t go to the movies, okay? It will cool off too much. And you may well eat a bunch of junk and ruin your dinner.

I can't tell you how tender even the white meat was. The pan had excellent juices for "au jus" we put over the sliced meat.

My late mom was a fretful cook who worried about food poisoning as a hobby and used to check chicken’s doneness by wiggling the drumstick (it should really give) and poking it often with a fork to see if the juices ran clear (no pink). This is a torment-free, leave-alone, way of cooking a chicken I much prefer. By the way, I always roast the giblets right alongside. It makes the “jus” really delicious. Roasted chicken liver is amazing even for liver haters. The heart , kidneys and the meat on the neck (not the bones, duh) go straight to the dog.