Slow roasted chicken is easily the dish with the highest ease to impressiveness ratio, at least in my book. I’ve even got a tutorial on how to slow roast the perfect chicken, with very little effort. The work involved to create a succulent, perfectly-roasted chicken in almost nothing. And really, that’s pretty much all there is to it.
Slow roasted chicken recipe bloopers
Where it gets funny (and I mean funny haha if you look at the solutions people come up with) is getting the skin on your chicken to crisp up. Often people overdo it with the fats, soaking the skin in oil so that it gets sallow and soggy. I personally like my chicken skin moist, but those of you who prefer their skin au crunch might try one of these interesting tricks:
I vouch for none of those methods, by the way. When I want crispy skin, I just crank the oven to 450°F (232°C) for the last 20 minutes of the cooking process. Easy.
Here’s another slow roasted chicken recipe tip – truss your bird beforehand. Preventing air from circulating within the chicken’s inner cavity will make for a moister, more evenly cooked bird. It’s not tough to truss a bird, and Chefsteps will show you how with a awesome video on trussing a chicken. If you don’t want to truss, stuff the cavity with lemon quarters or some such tasty mass to prevent airflow.
Let’s talk about this lovely early fall slow roasted chicken recipe with vegetables. Here in the Bay Area our summer lasted all of a week, which means we’re already getting in our autumn veg crop while still enjoying the bounty of summer. We’re awash with cauliflower and potatoes, so I grabbed a handful of each while I was at the local farmers market this week to celebrate the fact that the seasons are changing. I’d never thought to add cauliflower to my chicken roasting pot before, but they were an absolutely superb addition to this recipe (who doesn’t love roast cauliflower?).
Also, a note on time and temperature: this recipe is slow roasted for almost 3 hours at 250°F (121°C), though you could easily roast it at 400°F (204°C) and have it done in an hour or so. Just make sure to check for doneness about 45 minutes in, or make use of digital meat thermometer that will beep when your super duper slow roasted chicken is done. I swear, I couldn’t live without mine!
Slow Roasted Chicken Recipe with Winter Vegetables
Ingredients
For the chicken
- One 4-pound whole chicken
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 whole shallots diced
- 4 cloves of garlic diced
- 2 medium sweet onions thickly sliced
- 4 tablespoons garlic and herb butter (recipe below)
- 2 whole carrots peeled and cut into 1/2″ rounds
- 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 pound small yukon gold potatoes with the skin on, cut in half
- 1 cup of madeira wine (or a sweeter white if you don’t have medeira)
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 small bay leaves (or 2 large)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
For the Garlic and Herb Butter
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 clove of garlic diced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Roast the chicken
- Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C)
- Clean, dry and truss chicken. Set aside at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic and stir for another minute, then add sliced onions and mix well. Let the whole thing cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Rub the chicken with garlic and herb butter, concentrating on the breast area. Make sure to get butter in all of the crevices between the joints.
- Create a small bed in the onions for the chicken, and place it in the middle of the Dutch oven, breast up. Arrange carrots, cauliflower and potatoes around the chicken, and pour in wine and water. Sprinkle vegetables with salt, pepper, bay leaves, and chopped parsley.
- Place uncovered Dutch oven into preheated oven and cook for about 2 hours and 30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the breast reads 160°F (71°C). Flip the bird over and turn up heat to 450°F (232°C). Cook for another 20 minutes to crisp skin. Chicken is done cooking when the meat is at 180°F (82°C). Remember that the breast cooks faster than the thighs, so check doneness there too! When pierced in the thigh, the chicken’s juices run should clear.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit about ten minutes. Do not cover with foil, or your chicken skin will get soggy.
- Carve the bird and plate with roasted vegetables. Pour juices from the bottom of the roasting dish all over the plate, and serve with some sort of bread to sop up the delicious goodness that is butter and chicken fat.
Roast chicken recipe variation
- When the bird it just about done, just as you crank the heat to 450°F (232°C), remove the Dutch oven from the oven and brush the surface of the chicken with a mixture of equal parts honey and soy sauce. Return chicken to 450°F (232°C) oven and cook for another ten minutes.
Make the Garlic and Herb Butter
- In a small bowl, mix all ingredients. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Reserve garlic and herb butter for roasting chickens, tossing with pasta, spreading onto sourdough toast, or whatever you happen to prefer. Remember: raw garlic makes it potent!
Nutrition
This content was originally posted on FearlessFresh.com.