Chef @ Home ~ Roasted Chicken and Butter-drizzled Veggies

This is the easiest French cuisine can get apart from the fringe benefits that its delish, takes very little effort and you need only very few ingredients which are mostly available at home at all times. This is my first attempt at roasting a whole chicken and I think I will do it more often now. Though I am nowhere close to be being “good” when it comes to carving the chicken! I was messy and very “Middle Ages”!

You will need:

1 whole skinned chicken, already cleaned and trussed (all supermarkets have it, get the unfrozen ones)
1 tsp Rosemary leaves (dried)
1 tbsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, if you are using salted butter, go easy on the amount of salt for the dry rub!

Make a dry rub for the chicken with the rosemary leaves, salt and pepper. Place the chicken on a baking tray/ dish and rub the mix all over with your hands.

 

Place pieces of butter on the whole chicken. Keep the chicken breasts-down. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees Celsius/ Low if on Broil mode. Roast the chicken for 15 minutes each side. You should get a nice, golden-brown crust on all sides.

In between turning the chicken on its sides, baste the chicken with the melted butter. Butter creates steam in the oven and should be used instead of oil. This keeps the chicken moist and tender. This roast should take you about an hour to make. The chicken should come out of the oven with the breast-side up! Follow the order of roasting the back of the chicken first, its two sides next and the chest side the last.

Now for the veggies which go really well with this chicken roast...

You will need:

Bunch of whole carrots
Red onions, sliced rough
Red potatoes cut into quarters
Corn-on-the-cobs
Cherry tomatoes – I did not have them and they are not used in my recipe
1 tbsp olive oil
Pepper powder
Salt

Mix all the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking tray. You can cook the veggies on the lower rack of the oven at the same temperature the chicken is cooking. They should also take about an hour to be ready. In between the cooking process, drizzle some melted butter you will get from the roasted chicken. Again to keep them moist and in shape!

Once the chicken is done, let it rest for a few minutes before you get to show off your carving skills!

Serve the chicken and vegetables with some bread and salad if you want.