A beautiful roasted chicken
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1/4 white onion
1 stalk celery
1 link cured sausage (andouille, kielbasa, etc)
1/2 stick butter
1 bulb of garlic, 4 cloves separated
fresh thyme to taste
fresh oregano to taste
salt and black pepper, generous
Steps
Preheat an oven to 350 F
Prepare the chicken by removing the innards and the neck from the cavity. Save these in a bag for gravy or stock. Next, use one finger to carefully separate the skin from the meat on as much of the bird as you can, including the legs and the thighs.
Salt and pepper the entire surface of the chicken, including the back.
Roughly chop 1/4 of a white onion, one stalk of celery, and one link of sausage.
Microwave 1/2 stick or 4 tbsp of butter in the microwave in 5 second intervals until it is soft and pliable, but not melted.
Crush and finely chop 4 cloves of garlic, as well as fresh thyme and oregano to taste, and mix into the soft butter. Note that the thicker the mixture, the harder it will be to spread, so add more soft butter if needed.
Spoon the garlic herb butter between the meat and skin of the chicken. Be sure to fill all the pockets you made. Rub any remaining butter onto the skin of the chicken.
Cut the remainder of the garlic bulb in half horizontally (skin on is fine). Stuff this and the onion, celery, and sausage into the cavity.
Tie the legs of the chicken together with kitchen twine to close the body cavity.
Place the chicken on a wire rack inside of a roasting pan or on a sheet pan. This will keep the bird from boiling in its own juices.
Roast for about 20 minutes per pound of chicken. Take it out at 30 minute intervals to baste with any accumulated juices. About half way through, start checking the chicken with a kitchen thermometer. When it reads 165 F in the breast and thighs, it's done. Depending on your oven, this might happen sooner than expected, so keep an eye on what your bird is doing.
Finish the chicken under the broiler for 30-90 seconds to brown up the skin. Again, keep a close eye so it doesn't start to burn.
Remove from oven, loosely cover with foil, and let the chicken rest for 15 minutes to seal in the juices. Retain all the drippings for gravy or stock. After carving, store the carcass along with the sausage, celery, and onion in a freezer bag for stock.
Commentary:
I first tried this on a thanksgiving turkey that finished cooking an hour ahead of schedule. On a whim, I had cut up some of the leftover kielbasa my dad had smoked a few nights earlier and stuffed it the cavity, and my intuition won out this round. It was really damn tasty.
I was determined to recreate the same thing once I got home, and I ended up making the best damn roast chicken I've ever eaten. The second time around, I used some leftover andouille, and while it lacked the smoky flavor, it was still worth it. Separating the skin from the meat is kind of a pain in the ass, but getting that butter in there makes the meat taste as good as you'd think. Not the healthiest way to prepare chicken, but arguably the tastiest.