Roast Chicken!

Tonight's dinner is roast chicken and mashed potatoes from Hungry Harvest! Check them out at this link https://www.pjatr.com/t/SUNIS05ITEZDR05LSk5MQ0hJTkdMRw and use code HARVEST10 for $10 off your first box!

I absolutely love having a Hungry Harvest box delivered right to my door! It makes grocery shopping so much easier!

Here are the ingredients!

For the brine!

• 1 cup of course salt

• 2 quarts of water

I added the salt and the water to a large metal pot and removed the chicken from the wrapper and placed it in the pot. I covered and let it brine for 24 hours. It was frozen solid so I made sure to place it in the brine over night to help speed up thawing.

Now time to cook!

For the chicken!

• 1 whole 4 pound chicken

• 1/2 cup of spreadable unsalted butter

• 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary- for cavity

• 1/4 cup of croutons- for cavity

• 6 cloves of garlic- peeled and chopped and placed under the skin

• 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Chicken seasoning

• 2 lemons- juice and zest

• 3 small onions- from Hungry Harvest

For the mashed potatoes!

• 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt

• 10 mini potatoes- from Hungry Harvest

• 1/4 cup of the original barista oatmilk from nutpods

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

I removed it from the brine at 10 this morning, rinsed the inside, patted it dry and placed it on my large cutting board. I placed the croutons and freshly cut rosemary inside the chicken. I peeled and smashed the garlic and placed it under the skin. I also rubbed the butter on top of the skin and under the skin. I sprinkled the butter milk ranch seasoning on all sides and placed it in my large roasting pan with the little rack so that all sides got crispy. I zested the lemons and juiced them and drizzled the juice and zest inside and on top of the chicken. I took the zested rinds and placed them inside the chicken. I chopped the onions into really fine pieces and stuffed them in the chicken as well and then fastened the cavity closed with several toothpicks.

I covered it with foil at 10:30 and left it on the counter until 3 to reach room temperature.

I baked it at 350 degrees for 2 hours uncovered, then turned the heat to broil (500 degrees) for 1 minute to get the skin extra crispy and to get more color, and waited about 15 minutes before carving. I put this in the oven at 2:45 so it would be ready at 4:45.

Now for the mashed potatoes. In a large pot, I brought 2 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil. Meanwhile, I peeled the potatoes and cut them into 1 1/2-inch cubes. I added them to the boiling water and brought the water back to a boil. I set the heat to low and simmered uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes fell apart easily.

In a small saucepan, I added the butter and nutpods and let it simmer on low heat.

As soon as the potatoes were tender, I drained them in a colander, placed them in a large glass bowl and used my masher to mash them up. As soon as the potatoes are mashed, I stirred in the nutpods and butter mixture with a whisk. I added in the salt and pepper, gave it a stir and served it with the chicken.

I love making a roast chicken! It's so easy to make and I love that I can do all the prep work ahead of time and just cover the chicken with foil and chill it until it's time to cook. Now my house smells amazing! Time to eat!