Most Amazing Roasted Whole Chicken

I have been experimenting all Winter with roasted chicken and have finally settled on what I consider the ultimate, most spectacular variation I've tried.  The recipe couldn't be simpler, but there are three things that make it truly extraordinary.  If you make sure your recipe entails all three of these, I guarantee you will love this roasted chicken.  The first secret is to find the best free-range organic whole bird you can buy.  Do not get a frozen chicken from Safeway.  Go to a specialty or gourmet market and even better, get one from a farmer or a farmer's market.  The best possible chicken itself will yield a final result that will astound you.  The next secret is the herbs.  You must use Herbes de Provence.  There are all kinds of mixes of this herb blend but make sure to use one that has plenty of lavender.  Yes, the lavender is secret number two.  And, the third secret goes along with the lavender -- it's honey.  Again, go with something unique, flowery and upscale.  Not the honey bear here.  I like Bee Raw Star Thistle honey but really just use any honey that has special depth of flavor and floral notes.In this combination, you will be amazed to discover (if you didn't know already) that lavender and poultry are made for each other as are honey and lavender.  Put them all together and you'll be completely blown away.

When making this roasted chicken, I always put lots of chopped vegetables in the pan halfway through the roasting.  Always the same methodology: I toss the vegetables with olive oil, white wine, kosher salt and black pepper and scatter them around the bird halfway through the roasting.  Use whatever you like, but make sure to include with your vegetables some more herbs, some chopped garlic and onion.  My favorite variation of vegetables includes fennel, turnips and winter squashes.  Experiment here and use whatever is in season, making sure to always have aromatics (herbs and onions), acid (wine or lemon juice), olive oil, salt and pepper.  

For the chicken, it's also incredibly simple.  Here's how I do it:

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 T. unsalted butter

1 1/2 T. Herbes de Provence (make sure it's one with lavender)

1 T. good quality floral honey

1 4 lb. whole free-range chicken

1 lemon

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 bunch thyme

4 sprigs tarragon

Vegetables, wine, herbes, onions that are in season

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Heat oven to 375˚F.  Melt the butter and herbes de provence in a small saucepan over low heat.  Remove from heat when melted and whisk the honey into the butter and herbs de provence.  Cover and let it steep for 20 minutes.

2. Remove giblets from inside chicken if they're there.  Season the chicken inside the cavity and all over the outside with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.  Peel rind from the lemon using a vegetable peeler, and make long strips.  Cut the lemon in half and slice one half and leave the other save the other half for later.  Put the lemon rind, sliced lemon half, crushed garlic cloves, thyme and tarragon into the body cavity of the chicken.  Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and set the chicken on a roasting rack placed inside a roasting pan.  Brush the chicken all over with half of the herb -honey-butter.  Pour about 1 c. water into the bottom of the roasting pan, making sure not to get the chicken wet.

3. Roast the chicken uncovered for 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.  If the pan begins to go dry, add more water.  After 45 minutes, quickly remove the chicken from the oven and scatter the vegetables you've prepared all around the bottom of the pan.  Add a little more water if the pan is completely dry.  Brush the chicken with the remaining herb-honey-butter mixture.  Place the chicken back into the oven and continue roasting another 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the internal temperature of the chicken's thigh is 165˚F.

4. Remove the chicken and set on a cutting board to rest, cover loosely with aluminum foil.  Serve the vegetables into a dish and if you'd like, make a nice sauce from the leftover juices in the pan.  After the chicken has rested about 10 minutes, carve it and gently squeeze the remaining half of the lemon over the chicken and vegetables.  Serve immediately.

Comments

[Carlene]

Chicken is in the oven in the final roasting stages. I am using the lavendar herbs from the lavendar farms in Sequim Washington. Do you use the wine at the end to make the sauce or do you add it when you add the vegetables to the roasting pan?

[Stephanie Beack]

Hope you liked it, that lavender will be divine! I toss white wine with the vegetables when I add them to the roasting pan. You can also add a little to the sauce you make at the end. If you want a light sauce and not a gravy, that'd be a great thing to add. If you're making a stock or cream-based gravy, then skip the wine for the sauce.