Cha-cha-cha Chicken

Isn't this supposed to be a craft blog too???
I know, I know...Things have been crazy around here lately and I'm in the middle of a quilt (tutorial coming soon). Once I'm close to finishing a quilt I can't focus on anything else. It's as though all my creative energy is swallowed or something. But, I HAVE to cook everyday, so it's easy to blog recipes instead. I promise, the craftiness is coming.
Today is about chicken. Or, more specifically, a whole chicken. People are intimidated by cooking whole chickens and I'm really not sure why. Whenever I say I made one, people look at me in awe. The funny thing is, it's my easy dinner! It's my go to for not knowing what to make, or when I don't have a lot of time to prep, and I always cook one up after someone has just had a baby. The only thing that I can figure, is that people don't understand how to cook a whole chicken. If people knew how effortless it truly is, I think they'd be considerably less impressed by me.
I've been wanting to make chicken stock since November, but I was moving mid December, so I waited. Once I got here, I had to save up enough bones, so I waited some more. I almost have enough and today is one of those days where I can tell that the kids (or at least SweetPea) are going to be in total meltdown mode by 5. So, I stopped by the store, picked up a chicken and voila! dinner! The cool thing about a whole chicken is that there isn't much prep and you can do the small amount of prep that there is in the morning while the kids are in a good mood and then keep it in your fridge all day. Put it in the oven at 4 o'clock and you'll have dinner around 6. It's just so easy and also pretty cheap. AND it's free of gluten and dairy. This tutorial has A LOT of pictures annd at the end I'll walk you through an easy way to carve it.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1/4 stick of butter (or vegan margarine)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 rosemary
a plastic baggie
a roasting pan

Directions:
Set oven to 425*
Take all of the organs out of the bird. Some companies do this for you and they are in a neat little bag on the side, but if not, just pull them out with your hands and discard or freeze for later. Rinse the chicken quickly in water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken face up in a roasting pan. It would be nice to use one with a rack, but I don't have one and you can use anything really. Mine looks like this:

 Face up means the breasts should be on top and the wings tips pointing at you. Give the bird a butter massage. That's right, slather her in butter--and don't forget her backside ;)

Put all those spices in the baggie and shake so they are all mixed together. If you have fresh spices, please use them, but I'm still waitng on my seeds, so I used dried. Sprinkle the spices all over the bird including the wings and thighs, which can easily be forgotten.

 Put the chicken in the oven, uncovered at 425* for 40 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 350* and cook for another 60-80 minutes. Your chicken is done when the internal temperature is at 165* according to the USDA. I always just poke the thigh and it's done when the juices run clear. In my opinion, the USDA likes dry chicken breasts.

Carving the chicken:
It's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Professional chefs will probably cry at the directions I'm about to give you, but I'm self taught and this works great for me!

 First, find the breastbone of the bird. Take your carving fork and put in in the left breast and your carving knife slices right to the left of the breastbone. You want to go pretty deep and at a slight angle (see above picture). Once you've cut all the way through, there will be some still attached between the leg and breast--just cut that  and voila! Your breast is freeee!(i couldn't help myself).

 Next, cut off the wing. I cut it off the bird with the breast, but I can't really explain that, so...sorry

So next you want to cut just below the breast, where the thigh is connected.

 Find the joint, and cut really hard. The key with carving is to find where it would naturally bend and cut there. Your leg and thigh will come off in one piece. ^^Pictures of meat gross me out!

Repeat with the other side of the bird.

It was delicious!

Don't throw away the bones! A chicken stock recipe is coming soon, so pop them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. I usually serve this meal with roasted potatos and carrots, or sometimes I'll make gravy out of the juices and whip up some mashed potatos. The combinations are endless - everything goes with chicken!