My Pretty Dutch Oven + Ina's Perfect Roast Chicken = Fabulously Glamorous!

So, I wrote a post for this last week, but I am completely rewriting it as I find there was way too much swearing in it, even for me. I don't need to throw out the F-bomb 37 times in a post about delicious chicken. It sounds so aggressive. As my jiu jitsu instructor has pointed out - I have a tendency to be too combative initially and that often makes it more difficult to accept change. I hope he appreciates that I am changing my entire personality for him.

So here is the lean and clean version.


I finally used my gorgeous turquoise dutch oven to make Ina Garten's Roast chicken. I love this recipe because it is simple and elegant. However, it was even better in my dutch oven because once the chicken is cooked - you remove the chicken and most of the chicken fat from the dutch oven and then - throw in a little chicken stock and some flour to make the gravy. It was so much easier to get the right consistency. I think it just cooks so evenly.

I have attached a video - the actual recipe is not online right now but I can tell you what to do.

1) Buy a chicken
2) remove the gross stuff inside
3) cut off the neck? (maybe - this didn't work too well and I need to get out my meat bible so I can learn how to properly dissect a chicken.
4) Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken
5) Stuff the inside with
a "bunch" or "handful" of thyme - this last time I used rosemary because I have it - and I don't think I used quite enough
one lemon cut in half
some garlic - like 4 cloves
6) Give it rub down with about 2 tablespoons of butter
7) Slice up some onion and throw it around the pan
8) Cook it at 425 for an hour and a half
9) EAT IT UP GOOD - once you remove it from the dutch oven and let it sit with some foil over it- because this bitch looses her juices if you don't watch her. She cannot be trusted.


Here is a similar recipe from Ina - but this one has carrots and fennel - I didn't use that recipe exactly but it does the job.

Ingredients

* 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
* 1 lemon, halved
* 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
* 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
* 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
* 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
* 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
* Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.