Roasted Rosemary Sage Chicken

Warning: this recipe is not for the calorie-conscious.

Today we're working on conquering my fears.  Fear of what? Whole chickens.  (Well, my husband would say salt and seasoning too, but that's a story for another day)

What also scares me about chicken is that most packages look like this:

Notice anything missing?  Like...chicken?

So we've been purchasing fryer chickens from Catullo Prime Meats who gets their chicken from Lamppost Farms.  Fresh, local, and...well...chicken.  The fryers are reasonably priced and a good size for just the two of us.

I'd never worked with a whole chicken before, so last week my husband walked me through breaking down and roasting a chicken.

Under his careful instructions, I made a flavorful, moist, and tender roasted chicken.  His reaction: "It's probably better than any chicken I ever made."

So I bought another chicken with the goal of doing it solo.  His advice: "It was perfect last time. So don't mess it up."

No pressure.

I had a little trouble breaking down the chicken, so he helped me again, then I proceeded to prepare the chicken on my own.

Yes, two sticks of butter.  Don't say I didn't warn you...
About how delicious it will be...

Chiffonade the sage

 

Stack the leaves               then roll               .

and make thin slices along the roll

Destem and chop the rosemary.  (I did not chop the rosemary but found myself picking some of it off as I ate because eating whole pieces of rosemary is just awkward.)


Sweat the diced shallot over low heat.  Add the roasted garlic, mash the roasted garlic and mix together.  Then add the white wine.  Cook for a minute more, remove from heat to cool.

Make the herbed butter mixture.  Add the herbs and pepper, mix until combined.  Once the shallot mixture is cooled, add to the butter mixture and combine.

Spread the butter mixture over the chicken.  Start by working some of the herbed butter between the meat and the skin.

 Then spread the remaining mixture over the tops of the pieces.

Place on a rack on a sheet pan and roast until the temperature reaches 165.

Roasted Rosemary-Sage Chicken

Ingredients:

1 chicken, in halves
Kosher salt
Pepper
1/2 clove roasted garlic
1 scallion, diced
1 oz white wine
2 sticks butter, softened
Fresh rosemary, destemmed (I used about 4 sprigs and would chop it next time)
Fresh sage, sliced into a chiffonade  (I used about 4 sprigs)

Instructions:

-Lay out the chicken, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper.

-Preheat oven to 400.

-Sweat the scallions with some kosher salt in a small saute pan over low heat.  Once the scallions are soft, add the roasted garlic and smash the roasted garlic until smooth.  Add the white wine to deglaze the pan.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

-In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the butter, rosemary, sage, and some pepper.  Mix until combined.  Once the scallion mixture is cooled, add to the butter mixture and mix until combined.

-Rub the butter mixture on the chicken.  Start with where you can get under the skin and massage some of the butter into the meat, leaving some of the seasonings and butter in between the meat and the skin.  Smear the remaining butter over the top of the skin.

-Place on a rack on a baking sheet (so you don't get all that butter pooling at the base of your chicken).  Bake for about an hour to an hour and a half, or until you reach a safe internal temperature (165 degrees).  Check the temperature at more than one place as the thigh and breast won't bake evenly.

-Once the chicken has reached 165 degrees, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.  Allowing the chicken to rest prevents loss of the moisture as well as providing a couple extra degrees for carry-over cooking.

Roasted Chicken: worthy of the farmer's table.