Recipe

The Herbed Bird Recipe

Add Step-by-Step Photos	Staceyfish / All my dishes 1 year, 4 months ago Beware: you may never accept deli lunch meat again! This recipe makes for an outstanding main course or wonderfully flavorful lunch meat. It's extremely quick and easy to prepare, and the payoffs are huge, taste-wise. If you get in the rhythm of r... More Prep:10m Cook:60m Servings:6	Staceyfish
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Wings in proper posi

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Ingredients

One whole chicken (3.5-4.5lb), gizzards removed

1 tablespoon(ish) each minced fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme (note: if fresh are not available, dried will suffice. Or try a dried herbs de provence blend)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon (ish) extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put herbs, garlic, and olive oil in a small ingredient bowl and combine with your fingers so the ingredients stick together somewhat.

Slide your fingers underneath the skin to loosen it from the breast and thighs. Trim any visible fat. Stuff the herbs underneath the skin until the meat is evenly coated.

Use kitchen twine to tie the drumsticks together at the ankles. Flip the chicken over and twist and break the wings so that they are folded on top of the back (as shown above). Put the chicken breast down on a roasting rack in a pan, add a cup or two of water to the bottom of the pan (to make it easier to get the fond at the end) and put in the oven.

After about twenty minutes, flip the chicken so it is breast up and add another cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Continue to roast until the white meat registers 160 degrees and the dark meat reaches 175, about forty more minutes for a 3.5lb bird, sixty more minutes for a 4.5lb bird.

To carve, remove the skin and make a vertical slice along the center of the breast. Then make horizontal cuts from the side to remove the meat. This method gives moister, more substantial slices for a bird this size. I'm not real fancy, so to remove the dark meat I cut the twine, flip the chicken over, and pull the legs off the chicken. After peeling the skin, the muscle structure of the chicken makes it easy to pull good-size chunks of meat off the bone.

Reserve the skin, bones, and fond from the bottom of the roasting pan for homemade chicken stock.

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Comments

unswissmiss 1 year, 4 months ago said:
Methodology is great. The spices can be changed up and I usually put salt and lemon slices under the skin as well. I don't add water to the roasting pan, though. I like the skin very crispy.

I'll have to try your breast down/breast up method. I usually roast the bird on its side for 1/3 of the time, flip the the other side for another 1/3 of the time, and then flip breast side up to finish. It helps the thighs cook evenly without drying out the white meat, but turning a big bird can be awkward!

decobabe 1 year, 4 months ago said:
I also do this method and it is the best. You should smell it with black truffles! But no garlic when doing truffles.
When I mix the herbs with salt, in the US I added a couple of drops of Liquid Smoke to make the paste and it was very nice indeed.
Good job at doing the prep photos.

chefjeb 1 year, 4 months ago said:
Great job describing a classic roasted bird. The breast side up and down really works and some even rub the skin with olive oil and add some lemon to the water. On a larger bird lowering the heat to about 375 will allow the internal parts to coook evenly and avoid the ouside muscle cooking too fast and drying out. About 18 minutes per pound for a 4 - 4 .5 pound chicken. Chicken is loaded with bacteria which must be heat killed. Get a $4 bimetalic stem thermometer which registers 0-220 degrees and calibrate it (see tips group)A meat thermometer doesn't work in this recipe. Any pink juices in the cavity means it isn't even ready for a final temp check. And insert it deeply, but be careful not to touch the bone, which will register hotter than the meat. Nice photos and great description. Good posting.

staceyfish 1 year, 4 months ago said:
Unswissmiss: I've occasionally added lemon, but I love the warm fragrance of just the herbs. I'm a fresh herb addict, I'll freely admit!
I'm generally not concerned about crispy skin because I don't eat it, but I save it for a sinfully delicious stock. The less-burned fond is an excellent addition to the stock too.

decobabe: thanks for the kudos on the photos! Cooking and cameras are a match made in heaven.

chefjeb: those instant-read thermometers are completely indispensible! I use them for everything in my kitchen -- water, milk, bread, yeast, and, most importantly, chicken. I've heard salmonella is no fun, but I'm ok with taking that theory on hearsay.

zena824 1 year, 4 months ago said:
I love using fresh herbs out of my herb garden so this will be a good recipe for me...Thanks so much... It sounds really yummy...

invisiblechef 1 year, 4 months ago said:
I'm making this tonight, I have all the fresh herbs that are needed, besides rosemary. I also like the idea of the lemon I might add that too.

when I came across this recipe this was all I could think of so decided it had to be done! so thanks for sharing.

PS
i'm going to be using a small organic chicken, since it's going to be serving only three. Hopefully there will be left overs so I can make another meal out of it.

Great pictures.

invisiblechef 1 year, 2 months ago said:
I came here to find out how long to cook.. I forgot to rate it last time. But will rate it right away, I am making it again, but added two lemons, two slices stuffed under the skin with the garlic and herbs and a whole lemon (cut in half) in the bird along with 1 onion half.

Marie

notyourmomma 10 months, 2 weeks ago said:
Lovely preparation and fabulous flavor, thank you for reminding me how simple can be the best. Yum.

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