Whole chicken recipe?!

I believe everyone should know how to roast a chicken. Here is a master method with some flavor options

Ingredients
1 Whole chicken, about 4 lbs. giblets removed, washed, patted dry
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Method
Heat oven to 450 degrees

Rub the chicken inside and out with butter. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper.

Place chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Put chicken in oven. Reduce heat to 350. Cook until juices run clear when thigh is pierced with knife and temperature read 170 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 1 hour. Allow chicken to sit 10 minutes before cutting into serving sizes.

Variations
1. Lemon Chicken. Prick a whole lemon all over with a fork; place in cavity of chicken before roasting.

2. Herb-roasted Chicken. Place fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil, parsley, and/or oregano inside cavity.

3. Garlic-roasted Chicken. Place whole peeled garlic cloves inside cavity.

4. Red velvet Chicken. Sprinkle chicken lightly with paprika or chili powder.

5. Tarragon Roasted chicken. Fill cavity with 3 peeled and split shallots and 1/2 bunch fresh tarragon.

If you have the fixings for these, they are to-die

Twice-baked potatoes

The potatoes can be cooked and filled up to 2 hours in advance.

Ingredients
12 small Yukon gold potatoes [about 3 lbs.]
6 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere (or other Swiss) cheese
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons coarse salt
freshly ground pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 425°. Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil, and bake until softened, about 1 hour. Let cool.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle cut each in half. Scoop out the flesh, reserving the skins, and pass through a ricer, or mash by hand. Stir in egg yolks, butter, cream, 1 cup Gruyere, salt and pepper. Pipe or scoop filling onto reserved skins. Cover with foil and refrigerate until shortly before serving.

Heat oven to 400°
Place filled potatoes on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with remaining Gruyere. Bake until filling is set and tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Serve immediately.

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here r a couple of the easiest but best recipes my family just LOVES.

pre-heat over to 350

put chicken in baking pan and smother with italian dressing for extra flavor sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. YUMMY cover tightly with foil,
throw it in oven for about 2 1/2 hours and u have your self a delicious meal the chicken just falls apart when u touch it with a fork. enjoy


now if u want the same delicious meal that falls apart when u touch it with the fork do all the same steps above but instead of smothering in italian smother with a bottle of bar b que sauce. cover and cook 2 1/2 hours and tah dah dinner is served and your family will be happy

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, cubed
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crushed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 whole roasting chicken (5 to 6 pounds)
6 small red potatoes, halved
6 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, quartered
Directions
In a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in the seasonings. Place chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan; tie drumsticks together with kitchen string. Spoon half of the butter mixture over chicken. Place the potatoes, carrots and onions around chicken. Drizzle remaining butter mixture over vegetables.
Cover and bake at 350° for 1-1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 30-60 minutes longer or a meat thermometer reaches 180° and vegetables are tender, basting occasionally.
Cover with foil and let stand for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables. Yield: 9 servings.


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Brined Roasting Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
8 cups warm water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon whole allspice, crushed
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds)
4 cups cold water
1 teaspoon canola oil
3/4 to 1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Directions
For brine, combine the first seven ingredients in a large kettle. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature.
Remove giblets from chicken; discard. Place cold water in a 2-gal. resealable plastic bag; add chicken. Place in a roasting pan. Carefully pour cooled brine into bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, turning several times.
Discard brine. Rinse chicken with water; pat dry. Skewer chicken openings; tie drumsticks together. Brush with oil. Place chicken in a roasting pan.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 80-90 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180°, basting occasionally with pan drippings (cover loosely with foil if chicken browns too quickly).
Remove chicken to a serving platter and keep warm. Pour drippings and loosened browned bits into a measuring cup; skim fat and discard. Add enough broth to measure 1 cup.
In a small saucepan, combine flour and broth mixture until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with chicken. Yield: 8 servings.

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Roasted Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
2 roasting chickens (about 5 pounds each)
1 teaspoon each salt, seasoned salt, celery salt and onion salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Pat chickens dry. Place with breast side up in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Combine seasonings; rub over and inside chickens.
Cover and bake at 400° for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180°. Serve one chicken immediately.
Cool the second chicken; debone and cube the meat and refrigerate or freeze (may be frozen for up to 3 months). Yield: 4-6 servings per chicken.

You should roast the whole thing according to what Tom said. When I do it I quarter the lemon before shoving it in the cavity and I also put whole peeled and slightly smashed garlic cloves (about 5 or 6) in there. I also include sprigs of rosemary if I have it.

If you just chop an onion, cut some red potatoes in half, and chop a couple of carrots you can roast them in the same pan with the chicken. They may get a little well done, but they will cook in the juices from the chicken and be freaking delicious!

Before serving get some of the lemon wedges back out of the chicken and squish them with the back of a big spoon so that the juices come out and stir the lemon juice around with the other pan juices and vegetables.

Get the vegetables out of the pan into a seperate serving bowl and then make a gravy using the pan drippings. This can go on both the chicken and veggies.

Let the chicken sit around at least 10 minutes at room temp before carving. It will be more juicy that way.

If you don't know how to make pan gravy it's super easy. Just boil about 2 cups of chicken broth (or some people boil the giblets in water to make their own broth. I don't usually do this) Get about 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour and whisk it into a small amount ( no more than 1/4 cup) of half and half or cream. Add the pan drippings (at least a few tablespoons into the boiling broth and make sure to scrape up the delicious little brown bits). Turn the heat off. Whisk in the flour/ cream mixture. Then just add salt and pepper to taste. You can make this without cream if you don't want a creamy gravy. Just combine the flour with water instead.

If you serve the chicken and vegetables with some dinner rolls you have a whole meal.