Simple Roasted Chicken

About two months ago, I met a lovely woman who — on top of being an amazing wife, a wonderful mother to 4 young boys, a homeschool teacher, and an exceptional chef — also happened to raise organic chickens! She is one busy lady, so she hired me to create a little more organization in her life…and then sent me home with one of her prized birds.

I put it in the freezer because we’ve had such a hot and humid summer {and we’ve been using the grill as much as possible}. However, we had a few cooler days last week and I took the opportunity to do some baking and roast a bunch of meat!
Slow-roasting meat is one of my favorite smells…it practically screams “Fall is here”. Don’t you agree?

Many people assume that roasting meat takes too long or is too difficult for the “average” person to achieve. However, if you ask me, it’s one of the simplest ways to prepare a delicious meal…really! Just season it, stick it in the oven, and come back in an hour or so to a gourmet meal. No stirring, watching, simmering, mixing, etc. Feel free to use the roasting period to make a few side dishes, clean up the kitchen, throw a load of laundry in, or just sit and enjoy the smells!

Last week, I roasted my friend’s chicken with the same spices I use for apple pie — it was sweet and delicious! I got rave reviews from my husband and will definitely file this recipe away for later.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (mine was 4 pounds)
• 2 t. salt
• 1 t. white sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 t. ground allspice
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small onion, quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix the salt, sugar, cloves, and allspice — rub mixture over chicken.
3. Stuff the chicken cavity with garlic and onion.
4. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.
5. Roast 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and continue roasting 30 minutes, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F . Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

See…that wasn’t so bad!

Here are a few other delicious slow roasted recipes from around the blgosphere:

• Slow Cooked Puerto Rican Pulled Pork — What Megan’s Making
• Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin — Food For My Family
• Thanksgiving Turkey — goodLife {eats}
• Roasted Port Loin – Healthy Home Recipes

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