“You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food.”

During the colder months I make sure there’s always a whole chicken in my freezer for roasting. So convenient to pop into the oven on a lazy weekend or for unexpected Holiday dinner guests. I’m surprised I’ve not shared this recipe before; It’s one of my signature recipes that should be passed on as a family heirloom. The best part? it’s no fuss: Marinade, bake for about an hour and I guarantee it’s bursting with flavour and always tender. I’ll also share an easy slow cooker chicken broth I make with the bones. Nothing goes to waste.

Note: For extra flavour and if time allows, marinade the chicken and let it sit in the fridge for an hour before baking.

You Will Need:

1 whole roasting chicken

Olive oil

2 Tblsp of Butter melted

Spices (anything you have): Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried dill weed, dried thyme, sage, lemon/pepper spice, white or black ground pepper, any chicken rub you have in your pantry

Salt

5 garlic cloves pressed

To stuff the chicken I use anything in the fridge that I want to use up: 1/2 chopped onion, 1 leek, 2 stalks of celery, 3 garlic cloves pressed, green onion.

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 380 degrees.

Place the chicken in a baking pan facing up. create an opening in the skin of the breast and push a couple of crushed garlic cloves between the skin and the meat. Turn the chicken over so that it’s facing down.

Take all the spices you will be using (the more the better) and put 1 Tsp of each into a bowl. Slowly add olive oil to the mixture and stir to create a paste.

Give the chicken a generous sprinkle of salt and massage 1/2 of the paste all over the back side of the chicken. Really get it in all the crevices, on the wings.

Flip the chicken over and do the same: generous salt and massage with the herb paste

Stuff the chicken cavity with chopped onion, leek, celery, parsley (whatever you’d like to use). This gives the chicken a wonderful fragrance so again, the more the better.

Right before putting the chicken into the oven, pour the melted butter overtop. Bake for 1 hour on the middle rack, uncovered.

At 1 hour, pull the chicken out and using a knife make a slice at each side to separate the legs. You will see here if your chicken is cooked. If the juices are still pink or red and the meat looks light pink, pop it into the over for an extra 10 minutes.

Carve and serve. Oh! if you’re making gravy like I did, use the drippings from the chicken on the stovetop, add a sprinkle of flour. So good!

After dinner, I remove as much of the meat off the carcass and set it aside for my chicken sandwich mix . I then make a bone broth in the slow cooker which I’ll later use as a soup base.

Instructions:

Into a slow cooker add, the entire chicken carcass along with 1/2 a large onion chopped roughly, 2 chopped carrots, 3 garlic cloves pressed, a handful of parsley, 3 celery stalks chopped, 1 tsp salt, 10 black pepper corns a bay leaf and 6 cups of water. Cook on Low for 6 hours. Strain.

If you’re going to use the broth right away, it can be kept in the fridge for 3 days, otherwise can or freeze it.

If you are using this recipe for the Holiday’s, I have all the recipes for my sides HERE. Cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, even pumpkin pie – you’re welcome.

Thank you for joining me today. If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog and join me over on Instagram @ BellWitchManor

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Love,

Jennifer

A little Holiday cooking soundtrack