Cousins Cooking It Up: Garlic and Herb Roast Chicken

My husband is a huge fan of chicken, I swear he can eat it morning, noon and night! Whenever I make anything that uses beef or seafood he says, "You should make this with chicken!" Because of his love for chicken, I'm always searching for different ways of preparing it. A gal can never have too many chicken recipes. I do a lot with chicken; saute, braise and fry but Roast Chicken is a favourite in our house -hands down. I love the way the house smells after a chicken has been roasting in the oven. The different herbs and garlic fill the house with such a lovely aroma. It fondly brings back memories of being back home in America with my beautiful mom making us a gorgeous chicken dinner.

I've experimented and researched many different ways of cooking a Roast Chicken and I've come up with this recipe. The herbs and seasonings work harmonously together and you will get a moist and flavourful chicken everytime. In making a Roast Chicken, I think you can be creative and come up with a million ways to season and flavour it. Being in the kitchen is my way of delving into my creative side, since I'm really not that creative in other areas :) I am the artist and the chicken is my canvas. I have a love of cooking, which is a good thing considering my hubby has a love of eating...What a wonderful match we are!

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Always try and use free range, when you can of course!

My butter and herb paste... Doesn't look like much but I promise tastes amazing!

Awe, the relaxed massaged chicken is slathered with the butter and is now ready for a 325˚ F sauna treatment

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5 lb (2kg) whole chicken, preferably free range
4 tbls butter softened
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tbls fresh coriander (cilantro) or 1tsp dried
1/2 tsp salt, plus more
1/2 tsp pepper, plus more
2 cup white wine
2 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 325˚F

Wash and pat dry your chicken and season generously with salt and pepper inside and out. In a bowl combine the softened butter with tarragon, thyme, cumin, onion powder, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper. Combine until a smooth paste is formed.

With the seasoned butter rub-a-dub-dub the chicken all over, and even under the skin. Just your fingers and slowly remove the skin from the breast, put a good amount of the butter under the skin. Place your chicken in a roasting pan with a rack. If you are like me and you want to avoid cleaning a dirty sticky pan, cover your pan with foil. One less pan to clean...laziness has it's rewards :)

Once you've placed your chicken on the rack, pour the white wine and water on the bottom of your roasting pan. This will help keep your chicken moist and add a beautiful flavour to the chicken, you can also use the juices to create a nice gravy.

Allow the chicken to cook covered in the oven for about 30 mins, then uncover and cook for a further 20-30 minutes so that it browns and crisps on top. Brown = Flavour! One of the rewarding things about Roast Chicken is achieving a crispy browned crust.

My chicken took about an hour and 10 mins, each oven is different. You can check the temperature of the chicken with a kitchen thermometer...PLEASE, don't go using your kids' thermometer. When pierced in the thickest part of the thigh the temperature should be 160˚F. Chicken isn't meant to be eaten rare, medium, or even medium well. Please don't serve raw chicken. If you don't have a thermometer just use a knife and pierce the skin at the thigh and see if the juices run clear.

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