Friday, November 4, 2011

Orange Rosemary Chicken

Both Alison and I roast a lot of whole chickens at home.  They are so cheap, super tasty, nutritious, and really easy to pull together for dinner.  The fall weather always makes me crave this kind of meal.  Another thing I love is that it's basically a one pot meal.  The chicken and veggies are roasted all together in one dish, leaving little clean up.  

I experiment a lot with different flavors on my chickens- probably more than my husband would like.  He claims that every meal I cook is a big experiment- not true.  Not EVERY meal anyway. 

Anyway, today I had a chicken thawed and decided to make Orange Rosemary Chicken.  

Here's what ya need:

1 chicken- about 5lbs (Only $3.77!)
1 orange
1/2 stick butter or margarine
zest from that one orange
2 T orange juice from orange
1/2- 1 tsp. fresh chopped rosemary (or dried)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 T coarse salt

And here's what ya do:

Rinse chicken & spatchcock it.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Google it.  You're basically just cutting out the backbone and opening it up to cut the cooking time down.  I just takes a minute with some good kitchen shears. (Although for a long time I just sawed that puppy out with a sharp knife)

Mix up butter, zest from the whole orange, 2 T juice, rosemary, salt, & pepper.  Also, I added in some chunks of the orange flesh.  Pretty big chunks to make it extra orangey.  
the butter or "buttah"


Loosen the skin along the neckline of the chicken and start shoving in the butter mixture with your hand or a spoon.  I use my hands.  Just fill up every area you can under the skin with the herb butter.  Also, spread some of the butter over the top of the chicken.  Sprinkle with some more salt and pepper. 
I'll make this picture small in case it makes you uncomfortable.  I understand, it's a little creepy.



Put in oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Drop the temperature down to 375 for another 30-35 minutes.  You chicken should be done.  Check to make sure the juices run clear or that a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.
Ta DAAAAA!


And that's it.  Super easy.  I know a lot of people who never cook whole chickens b/c it either seems to intimidating or like too much work. But seriously, butter her up and toss her in.  AND $3.77!  That's a dinner and lunch the next day at my house.  $1.89 per meal.  How can you beat that!? 

My other two favorite ways to flavor the chicken are garlic & lemon or tomato basil.  Although I will tell you to not scoop tomato paste under the skin.  It was just weird and tasted like a bad chicken parm.  That was a dinner failure for sure!

Ok, now... I've got a toddler to round up for nap time!  Always a good time!

~Kristie


1 comment:

  1. Yum, I love roasted chicken. Your recipe looks very simple and delicious. New follower from MBC, have a great weekend! You can find me at
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    Stop by my blog when you get the chance :)

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