a simple real food recipe :: slow roasted pastured chicken and gravy

I know everyone is loving the recipe we did a while back on the weekly crockpotted chicken. It is SO easy, convenient, and delicious.  I’m enjoying the comments and emails about how that recipe has benefited your families!

Now that the weather is cooler, however, I have been flipping a warm oven on once a week to roast our weekly chicken versus crockpotting it! The crockpot is fantastic during those warm summer months – especially when things are so busy. But I promise that even with a busy school, work, and whatever else you have type schedules, this roasted chicken is just as easy, with just about the same hands on time as the crockpotted. Maybe move your chicken day to a weekend or weekday that you don’t work so you can be home for a few hours while the oven is on, and infiltrate your home with the delicious smell of a roasted chicken dinner!

FOR THE CHICKEN:

1 pastured chicken

2-3 carrots coarsely chopped

2-3 celery coarsely chopped

1 medium onion coarsely chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic

Butter or coconut oil for the outside of the chicken

Thyme, oregano, sea salt, and pepper to sprinkle the outside of the chicken

1-2 cups white wine, chicken stock, or water for the bottom of the pan

1. Wash out the chicken, pat dry, and stuff the inside of the chicken with some of the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
2. Put the rest of the veggies in the bottom of your roasting pan along with the white wine, chicken stock, or water.
3. Put the chicken BREAST DOWN in the roasting pan and roast at 275 degrees with the lid ON for 3 hours.
4. After 3 hours, flip the chicken to BREAST UP, butter the skin, sprinkle with seasonings.
5. Roast another 45 minutes with HEAT UP to 375, and with lid OFF.
6. Let your chicken rest for a few minutes outside of the oven before cutting.

I usually serve our chicken with whatever veggies are in season. On this night I sauteed frozen broccoli in garlic, thyme, butter, and lard, and scooped out the carrots from the roasting pan!

FOR THE GRAVY:

2-3 cups juices from cooking the chicken

1-2 TB arrowroot to thicken

Sea salt/pepper to taste

1. After your chicken is done cooking, scoop out 2-3 cups of the juices into a small sauce pan.
2. Bring to a rapid boil and reduce down about half – will take a good 5 or so minutes. It is perfect amount of time for the chicken to rest while you make the gravy.
3. Put the arrowroot in a small cup with a couple TB of water and stir it up.
4. Add arrowroot mixture, sea salt, and pepper and cook a few minutes to thicken.

Kitchen Tips:

1. Prep everything the night before if you need. You can have everything into the roasting pan so all you have to do is stick it in the oven when you are ready.
2. Don’t throw out the bones! I pull my crockpot over while I’m pulling the chicken apart and throw the bones/carcass/juices/veggies into the crockpot for homemade chicken stock! Get all the bang for your buck out of that chicken that you can!
3. You can throw some potatoes in the roasting pan and have your entire meal ready in one pan!
4. I had to LOOK and search for sources of good pastured organic chickens in my area. Do some research before you buy. If you are unsure about what a certain chicken is fed or lives – ASK. You have a right to know! Chickens that are pastured are richer in nutrients like vitamins A and D. They feed on bugs, grass, and water around them. Farmers that humanely raise these chickens are not pumping them full of hormones and GMO laiden feed while they sit in chicken waste all day. We do purchase some organic chickens from our local grocer in the winter when our farmer doesn’t have chicken available. I have called to find out what the chickens eat and how they live, and despite not being a huge fan of the feed they are given, at least I know it isn’t GMO, they are not pumped with hormones, and I do know the chickens are not caged up. Read THIS to learn more. I try to stock up the freezer with our pastured chickens before they run out for the winter but sometimes it just isn’t in the budget to double up.
5. This chicken makes great baby food purees too! My girls loved chicken pureed with homemade stock. Do it in batches and freeze it!

YOUR TURN!

Let me know how you like the roasted chicken!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, Too Many Jars In My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday, and Butter Believer’s Sunday School!