What can be better than sharing a simple, rustic, freshly cooked meal with the people you love?! No fancy plating necessary, just good food enjoyed in good company!
This was our rustic farm-to-table dinner the other day, when my friend Alana came over. It’s corn harvest season in the Prairies, so creamed corn is somewhat of a staple these days. Then, Alana convinced me to post a dessert made with pre-made pie crust, fully knowing my obsession with making my own crust. But it turned out to be a terrific ideas, for those days where you want a quick yet elegant dessert (pastry cream fruit tart.)
And let’s now get to the star of the day. The chicken! I have a lot of chicken recipes and they all serve a purpose. My spatchcock chicken is an amazng dish with the crispiest skin, smoke and juicy meat, that cooks up in about 45 minutes. My salt roasted chicken is great too. But this recipe, has been my all-time favourite for a long time!
I try to focus on the science behind recipes to find the best way to cook something. There’s not much science to this recipe, yet, it works and it works beautifully every time. Inserting some of the celery into the cavity, slows down the cooking of the breast meat, which is exactly what you want, since the goal is for the breast meat to cook at a similar pace to the leg meat. Coating of garlic powder does magic too! And starting the chicken with the breast side down, then flipping it, definitely takes the juiciness to the next level.
The biggest take away with this recipe is not overcooking the chicken. A good digital instant-read thermometer should be a perfect tool to making sure that doesn’t happen. When you are a couple of degrees away from your target temperature, switch the oven to broiler, to finish cooking while crisping up and browning the skin. Perfection!
Hope you guys give this Classic Simple Roasted Chicken recipe a try. As with all my recipes, tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you are cooking!
Preheat the oven to 350°.
If you have time, allow the chicken to sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes. This will bring the meat closer to room temperature and allow it to cook quicker and more evenly. If you don't have the time, your chicken will still turn out great.
Dry the skin of the chicken with the paper towels.
Mix garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and season the chicken all over evenly coating the skin; make sure that at least 1.5 tsp of this mixture gets inside the cavity of the chicken.
Slice celery stalks in half and lay on top of foil lined baking sheet. Put 3 pieces inside the cavity of the chicken (aromatics, plus it will help to slow down the cooking of the breast so that legs and breast can cook at a more even pace.)
Lay the chicken breast side down on top of your celery. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Using 2 wooden spoons (insert one of them into the cavity), flip the chicken after 30 minutes of baking to now bake breast side up. At this time, if desired, you can brush the skin of the chicken with some olive oil to help the browning even more; if desired, you can skip this step.
If you don't want to flip the chicken, it should still be fine - just bake the chicken breast SIDE UP, the whole time.
After you flipped the chicken, continue roasting for another 40-50 minutes, until the internal temperature in the thigh reaches 175° (that's when the leg meat is no longer chewy,) and in the breast 165° (in accordance with the Government guidelines for poultry.) What you can do, is when you are a few degrees away from the target temperature, switch off the oven to the broiler for the last few minutes of baking.
The total roasting time should be around 1 hours and 15 minutes and will vary depending on the exact size of your chicken. If your chicken is extra small, or large, adjust the time accordingly.
Allow the chicken to rest uncovered, for at least 10 minutes, then carve and serve!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°.
If you have time, allow the chicken to sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes. This will bring the meat closer to room temperature and allow it to cook quicker and more evenly. If you don't have the time, your chicken will still turn out great.
Dry the skin of the chicken with the paper towels.
Mix garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and season the chicken all over evenly coating the skin; make sure that at least 1.5 tsp of this mixture gets inside the cavity of the chicken.
Slice celery stalks in half and lay on top of foil lined baking sheet. Put 3 pieces inside the cavity of the chicken (aromatics, plus it will help to slow down the cooking of the breast so that legs and breast can cook at a more even pace.)
Lay the chicken breast side down on top of your celery. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Using 2 wooden spoons (insert one of them into the cavity), flip the chicken after 30 minutes of baking to now bake breast side up. At this time, if desired, you can brush the skin of the chicken with some olive oil to help the browning even more; if desired, you can skip this step.
If you don't want to flip the chicken, it should still be fine - just bake the chicken breast SIDE UP, the whole time.
After you flipped the chicken, continue roasting for another 40-50 minutes, until the internal temperature in the thigh reaches 175° (that's when the leg meat is no longer chewy,) and in the breast 165° (in accordance with the Government guidelines for poultry.) What you can do, is when you are a few degrees away from the target temperature, switch off the oven to the broiler for the last few minutes of baking.
The total roasting time should be around 1 hours and 15 minutes and will vary depending on the exact size of your chicken. If your chicken is extra small, or large, adjust the time accordingly.
Allow the chicken to rest uncovered, for at least 10 minutes, then carve and serve!
