FoodB

Chicken is probably my favorite meat. It is one of the first things that I learned to BBQ and I tend to lean toward cooking it more than anything else. When it comes to BBQ'ing, I tend to screw up steaks any time I cook them and I only smoke pork so my grill generally only sees chicken's cooking on it.

For Christmas, my mom and dad got us a roasting pan. I have wanted one for some time to help with making cheese cakes. When you make a cheese cake, you need to place the cake pan in a water bath and we only have pans that are about an inch high. Now I can make a proper cheese cake.

With the pan though, Jenn decided to try her hand at roasting a chicken. We have roasted chicken in the oven previously and the results were generally good, but I know now what was missing. The difference this time is we had a rack to keep the chicken separate from the pan so it was not seeping in it's own cooked out fat. I don't find chicken fat very appetizing and this was a welcome change. The meat was very moist and the skin was nice and crisp. An added bonus was that we were able to use the leftover meat from the chicken for chicken taco's the next day and chicken salad the day after that. Three meals in one cooking, that's good stuff!

Herb Roasted Chicken

1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Majoram
1 tsp Dried Sage
1 Tbsn Fresh Chopped Rosemary
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 3lbs. Whole Chicken
2 Large Chopped Carrots
1 cup Pearl Onions Peeled (use frozen onions to save time)
1 Tspn Olive Oil
1 10oz. package Frozen Peas Thawed

1. For herb rub, combine the herbs, salt and pepper.
2. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Loosen skin on chicken breast and using your fingers carefully spread half the herb rub under the skin.
4. Skewer neck skin to back and tie legs to tail with toothpicks. Twist wings under back.
5. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the chicken.
6. Place chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan.
7. Roast uncovered in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
8. In a casserole dish, combine carrots and onions.
9. Toss the remaining herb rub and olive oil, cover and place in the oven.
10. Roast about 45 minutes more until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
11. Add the peas to the casserole the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Note: Make sure at least every 15 to 30 minutes to brush the chicken with the drippings at the bottom of the pan, this will keep the meat moist and the skin crispy.