ROASTED CHICKEN – not Julia’s, not Ina’s, just Bernadette’s

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“You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken.”

Julia Child

Hi there,

Today I am going to share with you my version of roasted chicken. I proceeded with this recipe investigation like Goldilocks. I tried Julia Child’s recipe and found chopping and cooking the vegetables along with the massaging a tad too much work. (Besides, I figure if anything is going to get a massage its going to be me🤣)

Then I tried Ina Garten’s roasted chicken. Ina uses similar herbs to my variation but she uses butter and doesn’t use lemon. And, she’s cooking for Jeffrey, and I’m cooking for Dom, who prefers olive oil to butter.

Well, the following is my recipe and as Goldilocks would say, my family finds it to be “just right”.

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 5 lb. roaster
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 2 leeks
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme
  • EVO
  • 1/2 cup of white wine
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  • preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • in the bottom of roasting pan put the sliced fennel and leeks
  • add 1/2 cup of wine and salt & paper to leeks (I like to use Aleppo pepper)
  • dry the roasting chicken inside and out
  • stuff with rosemary, thyme and lemon sliced into quarters
  • spray or baste liberally the entire roaster with evo
  • liberally cover with salt and pepper
  • roast for approximately 1 and 1/2 hours or until 165 degrees internal temperature is reached
  • remove roaster from over and allow to rest on cutting board to about 10 minutes
  • with an immersion stick grind the leeks and fennel and combine with pan drippings
  • place the pan dripping puree on a serving platter and top with cut up chicken

Special note:

Aleppo Pepper is a favorite spice of mine. It is a little hotter but much more mellow than black pepper. Also, its red color gives foods a nice spark of color as you can see in the photo. If you can’t find Aleppo Pepper at the supermarket, it is easily available at Amazon. This is a favorite company dish because of its ease of preparation. I serve it with balsamic glazed Brussel sprouts and savory twice baked sweet potatoes.

6 responses to “ROASTED CHICKEN – not Julia’s, not Ina’s, just Bernadette’s”

  1. Colorful Sisters – 🌼Traveling Fashion Designers🌼 👯‍♀️ Brooke and Danielle 📍Philly to Israel ✈️ Epic Travel Locations + our fashion creations ✂️ Sewing | Design | Travel Brooke@colorfulsisters.com
    Colorful Sisters says:

    your blog is amazing!

  2. rozinaspersiankitchen – Hello everyone, my name is Rozina. I am Iranian with Azerbaijani roots. I was raised in Iran but I am living in Scotland. I am passionate about cooking and preparing meals for my family and friends. I tell them the story behind the meal, the pronunciation of their Iranian name and the spices that used in Persian cuisine. I am a photographer, a cooking teacher, and very interested to introduce Persian and Azerbaijani meals, desserts and beverages to people from different cultures, as I love to try food from all over the world. Iranian cuisine is a combination of rice with meat ( chicken, beef, lamb, fish, turkey), nuts, fruits, dried and fresh herbs and vegetables. Iranian food is a celebration of flavor, colour and spices such as: saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, dried rose petals, dried limes, cumin, …. I share my recipes in Farsi/English along with step by step photos of preparation. I take all my own pictures. I have learned my traditional Persian and Azerbaijani recipes from my lovely mother, and she has learned from her mother. Over the years, I have experimented and learned more recipes. Some of my recipes are a fusion Western and Middle Eastern cuisine. Some are forgotten from Persian cooking tables and I try with posting and sharing those ones, to preserve them. All my recipes and pictures are property of rozinaspersiankitchen. I would be pleased if you would mention my site if you wish to use any of them. So, if you are interested to know about Persian /Azerbaijani food taste, you can try my website. I will be glad to hear your ideas about my recipes. 🙂 Thank you for visiting my website.
    rozinaspersiankitchen says:

    What a tempting recipe. Yummmmmmy