Friday, July 15, 2011

OK, how 'bout some Roast Chicken, cranberries biscuits and gravy, and Sweet Potatoes


The chicken in this recipe is farm raised, free range, no antibiotics or hormones. I get mine through a local food co-op, The Heirloom Project so if you're reading this and you live around Missoula Montana, check it out at - www.projectheirloom@gmail.com

These Chickens are raised free range up in the Mission Mountain Valley and are absolutely succulent. I haven't tasted one that even approaches their flavor since I was on the Farm when I was a kid.
I thought I would go to my grave never tasting a chicken like that again! Awesome!

If you're not in Montana you just need to go find a local Farmer Brown. There are organic Farms every where these days raising some of the finest and healthiest chickens you will ever eat and believe me it's worth the effort.

Corporate Farm raised chickens are raised in a cage hardly big enough for them to fit. They live in their own excrement and are fed hormones and antibiotics. Continued consumption of those kind of chickens will damage your immune system. Constant consumption of low grade antibiotics will give you an immunity to antibiotics and then, when you get sick, antibiotics prescribed for your malady will be ineffective.

OK, enough preaching, on with the recipe. (Oh yeah, all fruit, herbs, and vegetables are organic)

  • 1 5 pound organic chicken
  • ½ a bunch of parsley
  • two onions – one quartered and the other whole (peeled)
  • 1 medium head of garlic peeled and halved
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • Celtic Sea salt or Kosher Salt
  • 1 orange quartered
  • 1 cube of organic butter - I use KerryGold Irish Butter
  • 1 ½ cups of chicken stock
  • A little fresh thyme if you like works well


Rinse off the chicken and pat dry, inside and out. A wet chicken causes steam in the oven and makes the meat mushy. Truss up the legs of the chicken
Chop your parsley and thyme finely. Mix the parsley and thyme and ½ stick of butter and rub on the chicken. Salt and pepper liberally inside and out. Put the orange, garlic, and quartered onion inside the chicken.
Pre-heat the oven to 425. Put the chicken in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove and add 1/2 a cup of chicken broth and ½ cube of butter. Let the butter and stock warm in the roasting pan for a couple minutes and baste the chicken with it. Lower the oven temperature to 350. replace the chicken and baste with pan drippings every 20 minutes. The chicken will be done when the internal temperature registers 165 on a meat thermometer. Check the temperature every twenty minutes after cooking for 1 hour.
When the temp reaches 165 remove the chicken from the oven. Remove the onions, Garlic, and orange, Squeeze the orange juice over the chicken. Cover the chicken loosely with aluminum foil for 10 minutes to allow the juices inside the chicken to redistribute.

While the chicken is resting Put the roasting pan on the stove top at medium heat. Add ¼ cup of stock and 2 tablespoons of flower. Whisk until the flower is well mixed add the rest of the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. If the gravy flavor is too intense s l o w l y add a bit of milk until you get the intensity you want. Those of you who aren't afraid, can add a coupe tablespoons of cooking Sherry.
It really makes a huge flavor addition. The slight alcohol content is burned off.


Side dishes:

Wash the potato and prick it liberally with a fork. Rub in some Extra virgin olive oil. Bake @ 350 for one hour or until soft to the touch. Peel and mash with a fork. Add butter and or sour cream. Pepper lightly.

Cranberries whole or jellied

And don't forget the Buttermilk biscuits or Corn bread as you like.
The Gravy is awesome over these! :)

Good Eats!
Darryl


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