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Mother’s Day Special – Roasted Chicken and Veggies

Roasted Chicken and Veggies, by Reggie Soang (click on image for YouTube video)

Roasted Chicken and veggies are some of the best dishes to cook for a special occasion. With a little bit of planning, the chicken will be roasted just in time for dinner with everything else falling into place. My way of roasting chicken is easy and manageable. I also blanch the veggies prior to roasting; therefore, all the veggies will be tender, juicy, and evenly cooked at the end. Ideally, you want to marinate the chicken overnight. However, if time is short, season the chicken a few hours before cooking and rub it generously with EVOO.

For Mother’s Day Special, 2020

Roasted Chicken and Veggies
Serves: 4 portions

Prep Time: 30 Minutes (including making chicken marinade)
Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (not including marinating time)

Ingredients:
For the Marinade
1 whole chicken, around 3.5#
1 head fresh garlic, peeled
1 bunch parsley
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup EVOO

For Roasted Chicken:
5 small Yukon potatoes
5 small carrots
2 small red onions
1 head garlic
3 stalks celery
1 Roma tomato, halved
Small bunch of thyme
Any leftover chicken marinade
1/2 cup chicken stock, for making the sauce, using water is fine

Marinating Chicken Overnight

  1. To make the marinade, blitz garlic, parsley, chili powder, salt, and EVOO in a food processor until pesto consistency, chunky and saucy. 
  2. Cut the backbone off the chicken by cutting through both sides of the vertebrae. Starting from the neck, use the tip of the knife to cut through the tiny bones next to the vertebrae, and then use the back of the knife to cut through the thicker part of the bones toward the end of the chicken. Open the chicken up like a book. 
  3. Rub the marinade all over the chicken and refrigerate overnight

The Next Day

  1. Take the chicken out at least 1 hour before roasting.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 450F
  3. Prep your veggies by peeling potatoes, carrots, onions, but leave them whole
  4. Break up a heard of garlic but don’t peel them
  5. Wash celery stalks and cut them into 3 inch long
  6. Put potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions in a pot of cold water and bring the water up to a boil. Immediately strain the veggies. Once the veggies are cool enough to handle, cut carrots  in half lengthwise. Quarter potatoes and onions. 
  7. Toss the pre-heated veggies with leftover rub or with EVOO, salt, and black pepper.
  8. Add the veggies, plus tomatoes and thyme to a roasting tray. Put the chicken right on top of the veggies and put the roasting tray on the middle rack of the oven and roast for 45 minutes. 
  9. Check the chicken after 20 minutes to make sure the skins are not getting browned too quickly. If you have a thermometer, the breast should be at 150~153F and the thighs should be at 170~173F after 45 minutes. The temperature of the chicken will reach 165F, as recommended by the USDA. *Don’t cook your chicken to 165F, because the chicken will keep on cooking after you take it out of the oven and dry out.
  10. Rest the roasted chicken for at least 30 minutes before carving to retain most of the juice. 
  11. While the chicken is resting, make the sauce. Scrape all the juice and brown bits off the roasting tray into a pot, and then add some water or chicken stock to make the sauce. Bring the sauce up to a boil and adjust the seasoning. Reduce the sauce to the consistency that you prefer.
  12. Cut up the chicken into 12 pieces: cut off two wings, cut each breast into 3 pieces, and cut off the drumsticks from the thighs. 
  13. Serve the chicken on top of the roasted veggies, and then pour the sauce all over. Bon Appétit! 

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