The Beautiful Life

Roast Chicken

We eat roast chicken at least 3 times a month at our house. It’s really easy to just pop it in the oven in the afternoon and then forget about dinner until the timer goes off. And you can do lots of great things with the leftovers.

To make a roast chicken, you need to brine it the night before you want to cook it. Find an oven-safe pot big enough for a chicken, and fill it with water. Bring to a boil. Add 1 c. salt, 1/2 c. sugar and maybe a cut lemon, a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, whatever. Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. This is super important! DO NOT put your chicken into hot brine! You don’t want it to cook! After the water is cool, throw in the chicken, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, drain the water and dry the chicken well with paper towels. About an hour before cooking, take the chicken out. Preheat your oven to 400, and bake the chicken for about 2 hours, or until the juices run clear. You can baste it every 15 minutes if you want, but I usually forget. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

If you want, you can throw in some root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, etc. with the chicken and then you don’t even have to make a side dish.

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