Roasted Chicken

I found this recipe in a magazine, and of course,  I can’t remember which one.  It was about country living or something.  Anyway, this is my all time favorite chicken recipe EVER.  It is easy, fabulously tasty, and so versatile.  I have never liked baked or boiled chicken very much, it seems to lose flavor and get slimy, ugh.  So, I either fried it, or broke down and boiled it when I was making chicken enchiladas or some kind of casserole.  That was until I found this recipe.  I love the flavor and texture of rotisserie chicken–crispy on the outside, and moist in the inside, minus the sliminess :) But, I don’t have a rotisserie here at my house, so I never thought I could make one until now.  Drum roll please…

1 Whole chicken–I use Windy Meadows whole chickens which are about 4 lbs, adjust the cooking time if your chicken is a different size.

Your favorite dry spices–use your imagination, the options are limitless.  For mexican casseroles I use chile powder, cumin, red pepper, etc. and for soups I use salt, pepper, garlic, onion, rosemary, and other herbs.  The spice really doesn’t matter as long as it is dry.

Heat the oven to 475 F.  Rinse the chicken inside and out and dry thoroughly with paper towels.  This step is important so make sure it is dry inside and out.  Mix your spices in a bowl and rub over the dry chicken inside and out.  Do not puncture the skin, the skin needs to remain intact to hold in the moisture and juice of the chicken.   Heat a large iron skillet on the stove top until smoking hot–just a dry skillet, no oil or anything.  Place the chicken breast side down in the smoking hot skillet.  Immediately place in the hot oven and leave uncovered.  Cook for 30 minutes and turn chicken over–try to turn carefully so that the skin isn’t torn up.  Cook for another 30 minutes and your chicken is ready to eat!  Usually the skin on the top of the chicken starts to get a little over done after it is turned.  To avoid this, I place a small piece of foil over the very top–do not cover the entire pan or seal the edges, just cover the top that needs to be protected from over browning.  The fat in the bottom of the skillet will smoke and I always end up with a smoky kitchen, but the chicken itself does not burn so I don’t worry about it.

I have had several people who just can’t believe that you cook this chicken at 475  I promise that this is correct, and that it does work.  Just give it a try.  You can eat the chicken as it is, or let it cool, remove the meat and use for casseroles.  I freeze any excess and have it ready to go for the next time I want to make chicken enchiladas (there never seems to be much excess though!)  I then take the bones and boil with onions, salt, pepper, and sometimes celery and carrots for chicken stock.  This way one chicken turns into several meals and we stretch it out as far as possible.  Hope you like it!