It’s November, which means I’m already thinking about what Ryan and I will be making for Thanksgiving dinner. Weeks ago while at the pub with our Italian friends, Alessia and Raffaello, we invited them over to have Thanksgiving with us. I’m totally excited to have them over, introduce them to new foods and share our traditions with them. And I think they’re excited too. But the truth is I’m nervous. Making Thanksgiving dinner can be a little nerve-racking anyway because I want it to go well, but the pressure is increased because I want to impress our guests who have never had this meal before.
So I decided to practice. I’ve made a turkey twice before. The first time in 2011 under the tutelage of my Uncle Willie. I did most of the work, but he was telling me what to do as we went. The second turkey was in 2012. I did all the prep myself but my mother-in-law Susan was there during the cooking to add her experience and moral support. This time it is all me. I went to the grocery store to get my practice turkey, and they didn’t have any. Sigh.
As a stand in, I bought a whole chicken. I know it’s not totally the same, but it’s not totally different. Also I’ve only roasted a chicken once so I figured this is an important skill to cultivate. [Side note: In the US, I never roasted a whole chicken because I always bought whole chicken parts. That packaging doesn’t seem to be a thing here. I can buy all the various parts separately, but I can’t buy a package that has breasts, thighs, wings etc all in one.]
Stocked up with herbs, butter, vegetables, and a chicken, I was ready to roast. I found the preparation process really fun because everything smelled so good. This recipe is adapted from one I found on the Pioneer Woman Cooks‘ website. I used sage, rosemary, and thyme for the herbs. It all smells so good! I love that rosemary makes me think of Christmas and that thyme smells herbal and a bit floral. I’ve never used sage before, but I liked the thicker texture and its subtle pine smell. I ended up making more herb butter than I needed, but it’s a learning process right?
Basically, I chopped up a bunch of herbs and mixed them with butter. I then used my hands to slather the chicken with herb butter. I put a ton all over the outside. For extra flavor, I even got in between the skin and the meat and added more herb butter. There’s a picture below. It’s not beautiful, but I wanted you to know that you should just go crazy with the seasoning. I also stuffed the chicken with some garlic, veggies, and a lemon to add flavor.
In the end, this chicken came out so flipping good. I mean SO GOOD. I started making it and then while it was in the oven Ryan left to go to the Arsenal match. The apartment started to smell really good and the chicken started to brown. Some of the herbs turned crunchy and too dark, but I just scraped them off at the end. Once the chicken was done I took it out and photographed it for the blog. And then I dug in. I dug in hard. The first bite was a moist explosion of delicious chicken flavor, followed by herbal hints, and finished with a salty crunchy bite of skin. I was alone, but I thought, “damn this is good.” It was so good I ate half the chicken myself (and I may or may not have been standing up over the counter eating directly from the roasting pan).
When Ryan got home he pulled out the chicken from the fridge and ate a bite. He turned around and gave me an “oh yeah this is delicious,” face. He also explicitly said the same thing. And then he ate the other half of the chicken. That should be a ringing endorsement. This chicken is so good that two people can eat a whole chicken in one sitting without any need for sides, plates, drinks, or normal meal-time behavior.
Messy level: Not so messy dish-wise, but very messy on your hands. Slathering your hands with butter then massaging a chicken isn’t clean. Still, I’ll give it two spoons.
- 1 whole chicken
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs sage
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp pepper
- 4 tbsp butter
- ½ lemon
- ½ onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 large carrot
- 4 garlic cloves
- Preheat oven to 450/230°.
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and place it into a roasting pan.
- Remove the herbs from their stems. Chop the herbs finely and mix them up.
- Measure out about 2 tbsp of chopped herbs. (If you have more you can use more). Put the herbs in a small bowl. Add in the salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Add the butter to the herbs and spices. Use your hands to mix everything all together so that you create an herb butter. Set aside for now.
- Roughly chop up the onion, celery, and carrots. These are just for smell and flavor, so if you're not going to eat them they don't have to look beautiful.
- Crush the garlic cloves. To do this, put the flat of your knife over the clove, then press down with the palm of your hand until you feel the garlic break and flatten.
- Squeeze the juice of the ½ lemon into the cavity of the chicken. Stuff the chicken with the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and onion. Again, doesn't have to be pretty and it may not all fit.
- Using your hands, rubs the herb butter all over the chicken. Be generous but you don't have to worry about how it looks. You may not need all the butter.
- For added flavor and moisture, gently butter in between the skin and the meat. (You can get in there at the top of the cavity)
- Cook in the oven for 1 hour, or until an inserted thermometer reaches 160/71°.
- Let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. If you cut it too soon all the juices fall out! Be patient!
- For the sake of presentation, flick off any herbs that have gotten too dark and crispy.
- Carve it and serve.
