EASY ROASTED CHICKEN (you'll never buy rotisserie again) & HOMEMADE STOCK

Ever buy one of those rotisserie chickens at the store?  OR even better, buy your own organic, whole chicken (like a Trader Joes or Costco...or from a local farmer...usually around $3/lb)  Of course, you can be like us and just raise your own chickens, slaughter your own chickens, gut your own chickens.  :)  But maybe I should save those step by steps for another day!

For a decent price, you'll not only have the best chicken you've ever tasted, but a huge batch of homemade chicken stock that freezes beautifully for future soups.  Affordable, delicious, healthy.  Here's one of our favorite meals.

Let's get cookin'.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole chicken (a good quality chicken makes a big difference in taste.  I like Trader Joes chickens that sell for around $1.29/lb)

2 tbsp Fresh Herbs (dried are ok, too):  Today I used fresh basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, and some minced garlic.  You can most definitely mix this up to whatever you have on hand.  Sometimes I only use rosemary.

2 (or so) tbsp of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)...I LOVE LOVE LOVE Heavenly Olive Oils & Vinegars in Lees Summit, MO...they have a BUTTER olive oil (not actually butter, it is herb infused and aged over time to taste like butter).

1 squeeze of 1/2 a lemon

Variety of things to stuff chicken.  OPTIONS ARE:  celery, lemon, apple, onion, garlic, carrot, etc.  Today I used onion, garlic and carrot, lemon.  In spring/summer I toss in fresh herbs from our garden.

Organic Red Potatoes: cut into large chunks
Yellow Onion:  cut into large chunks
Organic Carrots:  cut into large chunks
(you'll toss this into the pan and sit the chicken on top)

DIRECTIONS: 

1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2.  Remove chicken from packaging, take out "gizzards" (TJ's has theirs in a bag for you, thank you Trader Joes!)...but do NOT throw these away if you are going to make chicken stock later. 
3.  Thoroughly wash chicken all over with cold water.  Set aside on a plate.
4.  Chop herbs, toss into bowl, and add 2 tbsp of olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and some pepper.

Chopped herbs w/ EVOO, onion, carrot, and garlic to stuff

5.  Lightly grease a baking dish.  Toss in your "chunks" of carrot, red potato, and yellow onion.

6.  VERY IMPORTANT:  Pat dry your entire chicken w/ a paper towel.

7.  Stuff the inside of chicken w/ your aromatics.  (you won't be eating these, it just gives a nice flavor to your meat)

Stuff it good, baby!

8.  Rub herbs/oil all over.  Start by holding it upside down with 1 hand and coating it w/ the other.  Turn it over, place on your lined cookie sheet and continue to rub herbs/oil all over.  Be sure and get under wings/legs.

9.  Stick coated chicken in baking dish (on top of the red potatoes, carrots and onions).  COVER WITH FOIL.  Pop in oven on middle rack and roast for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and continue to bake an additional 15 min-30 minutes until the skin is nice and brown and beautiful. HERE'S HOW I CHECK TO MAKE SURE ITS DONE:  after 1 hour of total bake time, I remove the chicken from the oven and insert a candy themometer on the back, just above the leg.  Make sure and get it as close to the bone as you can.  When it reaches 165-170 degrees, its done.

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR CHICKEN CAVITY or any of the bones after you eat.  If you do, you are missing a HUGE opportunity to make the world's best chicken stock, not to mention the health benefits you get from it!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHICKEN STOCK:

Dump all of the ingredients (chicken cavity, "stuffings", any bones that have fallen off, gizzards, and any juices) into a large stock pot and cover with filtered water about an inch or two above the top of the ingredients. (At this point, you can either go ahead and make it or stick it in the frig and make it tomorrow as it takes a long time)  To draw out more of the calcium from the bones, let sit for an hour at this point at room temperature, optional.

If you want to add any other herbs, do so now.  I like to toss in a couple of bay leaves and 1/4 cup of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, but you don't have to.  I add any or all of the following:

onion skins
onion
whole carrot
whole celery
Fresh Herbs
apple cores that i've saved up for making stock


Bring to a low simmer and cover. You should never boil stock. Keep at a very low simmer for 3-12 hours, skimming any foam that may rise to the top. The longer you simmer the more flavor and minerals leach out into the water. I find that 12 hours work well for me, go past 24 hours and it will become bitter and too dark.Once done, cool slightly and then pour through a colander.  Twah-Lah!  Lots of broth!  Put in airtight containers and freeze.

You can also make this using a slow cooker, using the same directions as above and cooking on low.

THE MANY BENEFITS OF MAKING YOUR OWN CHICKEN BROTH:

1) Better use of Resources
Throwing away the bones of chickens is truthfully a terrible waste (though it occasionally happens even in our home). Those bones are full of minerals such as calcium that can be used to nourish your family. .
2) Saves Money
And when we do that, we win be saving money too! We don’t have to buy those expensive “natural” boxes of chicken broth in the store.
3) More Nutritious
Not only do we save money making our own, but it’s so much more nutritious. Even the natural brands are very watered down and poor nutritionally speaking. They use coloring (natural ones) and “natural flavorings” often to make up for the poor quality of the stock. Less natural brands can be full of refined salts and MSG. Making your own broth gives you a mineral rich, nutritious base for all sorts of wonderful meals.
4) It Tastes Better
Are you really that surprised that homemade broth tastes better? Good nutrition is most always paired with superior taste. We love homemade broth so much that we will sometimes sip it in mugs simply salted. (Yes, you will need to add salt).
5) Improves Your Cooking
A good homemade chicken broth gives you the foundation for making delicious soups and sauces and a myriad of other uses. You can cook your grains and legumes in it for extra nutrition and taste. You can flavor stir fry’s, chicken pot pie, taco filling and many other dishes with it. Having chicken broth on hand gives you the ability to make some wonderful dishes easily.
6) Gives You Many Health Benefits
Besides the rich nutrition you get from it, you also get other health benefits. The gelatin rich broth helps the digestibility of our entire meal, supports liver function, as well as aiding bone and teeth health through the easily absorbed minerals.
I hope that if you aren’t already sold on homemade chicken broth’s benefits that you soon will be!  It’s one of the most simple things you can make in the kitchen too. I have made chicken broth many ways, all leftover bones stripped of the meat, all raw meat on bones, using all whole vegetables, using leftover vegetable scraps saved from a week of chopping etc. All to say, the art of making your own chicken broth is very, very flexible. The above recipe is what I use most often as I have found that it results in a delicious tasting broth, is frugal and I get consistent results from it.
To increase the calcium of your broth, make sure you add the apple cider vinegar to the stock and that you cook it for long periods of time (12 hours), but not beyond that time as off flavors can start to develop.