Roasted Chicken on a Snowy Sunday Spring Day!

If you have a couple of hours to make dinner, this Roasted Chicken recipe is for you and your family. Today is Sunday so that's a day I almost always have extra time to make the perfect family meal. It also helped that the weather here in Buffalo, New York was miserably pretty…not pretty miserable but miserably pretty. It's March 30th, the winter season is over, it's spring, and all of Western New York woke up to snow, yet once again, for the thousandth time this year. Yes, it looked really pretty but it was really miserable to see! Enough is enough. The only thing that got me through this miserably pretty day is that the forecast is calling for 70 degrees on Tuesday, oh and the fact that I'm making this delicious roasted chicken for my family. I'm not just making a plain old chicken, I'm making a roaster chicken from Wendel's Poultry Farm in East Concord, New York. I was out that way recently and decided to stop into their cute farm store where they sell all of their poultry products as well as their homemade maple syrup. I could have boughten so many things but I decided to just stick with a 6 pound roaster chicken. What is so great about buying a fresh chicken from the farm itself is that you know exactly where it was raised and you know it's going to be the freshest. Wendel's Farm doesn't use any growth stimulants or hormones, no preservatives are added and they don't use any animal byproducts in their feed and their diet is all whole grain. Knowing that makes me feel better about buying my chicken, plus I know it will taste way better.

The chicken took about 15 minutes to prepare and 2 hours to roast. I'm glad I decided to make a meal that required a couple hours of cooking because it warmed up the house on this snowy spring day, plus the house smelled amazing. There is something so wholesome and comforting about roasting a chicken.  The boys were at their friends house getting a geology lesson and when they came home they walked in the door and said "Oh my gosh, it smells so good. We actually smelled it as we were walking home!" I said "It sounds like you boys have a bionic sniffer sense if you smelled it that far away." They laughed. I made the most amazing homemade gravy with it, along with roasted whole potatoes and butternut squash and stuffing. It felt like Thanksgiving day! The roasted chicken was out of this world. The skin was crisp and buttery and the meat was moist, tender and flavorful. Our food impressions were are a bit different today because well sometimes a picture says a thousand words! Salute to Roasted Chicken and Gravy on a snowy sunday spring day!

Wendel's Poultry Farm Chicken

Onions and Garlic cloves placed in middle of pan
for chicken to rest and cook on

The chicken dressed in butter, thyme, garlic, and salt n pepper

The chicken resting while I make the gravy

Making the chicken pan gravy. I love it when a recipe calls for wine. A good excuse to have a glass while cooking!

Roasted chicken and gravy ready to eat.

Roasted Chicken with Thyme and Garlic Click to print recipe)

Preparation and cook time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 6 pound whole chicken, trimmed, rinsed, dried and giblets removed, legs tied
• 8 garlic cloves, whole
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 tb dried thyme
• salt n pepper to taste
• 1 large onion, cut in thick slices
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup chicken stock

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Using a large roasting pan, place onion slices and garlic in middle of the pan. Place chicken breast side up on top of onions. Onions act as almost a rack for the chicken. Pour melted butter over the top of chicken and generously season with salt and pepper. Add dried thyme to top of chicken breast. Add two cups of water to bottom of pan. Roast for 30 minutes or until skin is crisp and golden. Take chicken out of the oven and add 1 cup of chicken stock. Add foil or a cover to the pan and roast in oven for an additional 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Add more stock to bottom of pan if too match evaporates. Take out and let rest covered for 10-15 minutes. Serve with Homemade Chicken Pan Gravy…see below.

Homemade Chicken Pan Gravy:

Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 cup pan drippings of roasted chicken including the garlic and onions 
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 3 tb of cornstarch
• salt n pepper to taste

In the roasting pan or a medium sauce pan, heat pan drippings over medium to high heat. Add wine and let cook for 5 minutes. Add cornstarch to chicken stock chicken and stir until well blended. Add cornstarch/chicken stock mixture to pan drippings and continue to cook on medium heat for 10 minutes or so. Gravy should thicken and reduce. Add salt n pepper to taste. Serve hot with Roasted Chicken. 

Our Food Impressions:

Ok, maybe not the most pleasant looking picture but you can see why a picture says a thousand words! We demolished this 6 pound bird clean!

The second best part of the chicken, the breaking the wish bone!