Free Range Roast Chicken Dinner

See this little chicken?  This chicken is going to be our dinner tonight.  

Seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Not too long ago this little chicken was running happily around a farm with green grass in Decatur Indiana called Pasture's Delights.  Enjoying life like a chicken should.  Out in the open, breathing fresh air, eating a diet that has not been genetically modified, not being pumped full of antibiotics but living a happy chicken life.  This chicken was not piled 7 stories high in a chicken house with 100,000 other chickens who have been fed or injected steroids, who are pooping on one another constantly and living in a stinky chicken house that is 100 degrees plus.  


Anyway you get my point...know where your chicken comes from.  And buy chickens that were healthy from the beginning, not sickly little birds barely existing.  You want to be healthy, so make sure your food is healthy when you buy it.


Please visit Pasture's Delights website and please read Farmer Mark's information comparing pastured chicken verses conventional chickens.  I just bought my last organic chicken breast from Costco.  Though it is organic, the chickens are not raised humanely.  So, it's all local chicken for us from here on out.  :-)  


Here is the link to Pasture's Delights chicken information

This is an actual picture of the chicks at Pasture's Delights Farm.

This recipe is so easy and delicious, you will be pleased all around.  The white meat is as moist as the dark meat.  Soooooo good!


Roasted Chicken Dinner
Whole chicken, free range pastured chicken 
1 Tbsp Kosher salt (I don't know why kosher and not sea salt...need to do more research here)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Total time:  Approximately 90 minutes


1.  Place a 12 inch cast iron skillet in oven an heat oven to 450.
2.  Combine salt and pepper in a small bowl
3.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels
4.  Rub olive oil all over chicken
5.  Sprinkle and rub in salt and pepper mixture on both sides of chicken
6.  Lay chicken, breast side up on a plate, tie legs together with twine or kite string
7.  Tuck wing tips behind back of chicken
8.  Carefully place chicken in your preheated skillet, there will be popping, be careful
9.  Roast chicken for 25-35 minutes until breast registers 120 degrees and thighs register 135 degrees.  Be very careful when taking chicken out of oven, it is obviously very hot and there are some popping going on too
10.  Turn oven off and leave chicken in oven, still in the cast iron skillet for another 25-35 minutes until breasts register 160 degrees and thighs register 175
11.  Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered for 20 minutes
12.  Carve chicken and serve.  I am serving mine with steamed organic broccoli and white basmati rice.  Yum!


Let me know what you think!

What chicken looked like after first 30 minutes of roasting.

Well, it's official, I reeeally love my boys...I let them eat both legs tonight. (*sigh*)

And don't forget to keep the bones to make a delicious chicken stock.  Please refer to the Healthy Home Economist website for more info on making chicken stock, check out Sarah's video.  



Recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated.

Caramel Sauce

This is seriously THE BEST CARAMEL SAUCE I have ever tasted!  So, I had to share it. :-)


After attempting another recipe which... =equaled=...FAILED from another blog, I resorted to the place that I should have started....yes, my favorite magazine/Internet subscription in the world......Cook's Illustrated  And when I attempted this recipe, the second time using Cook's Illustrated recipe....you got it!.....perfection!!!!  I LOVE Cook's Illustrated!!  (no I do not work for them or receive perks from them....their recipes actually work the first time you try them, that's more than enough reason for me to love them!)


So here we go.....


Classic Caramel Sauce
2 cups granulated sugar (either cane or organic sugar) Meijer sells both, other sugar is GMO
1 cup organic heavy cream or organic heavy whipping cream (Horizon is what I can find locally)
Pinch table salt
2 tablespoons unsalted organic butter, cold (Meijer has their brand of organic, it's all I use)


Instructions
1.  Pour 1 cup of reverse osmosis or filtered water into a 2 quart heavy-bottomed saucepan; add sugar to center of pot to keep granules from adhering to the sides of the pot, stir with wooden spoon.  Bring to boil over high heat, covered.  Uncover pot, insert candy thermometer and continue to boil until syrup is thick and straw-colored, registering 300 degrees on candy thermometer which will be about 15 minutes (if you don't own a candy thermometer, you can check the sugar syrup with an instant read thermometer than can read temperatures in excess of 350 degrees or follow the time approximations in this recipe and watch the color of the sugar syrup; it should be a deep amber color before the cream is added.)


2.  Reduce heat to medium; continue to cool until sugar is deep amber, begins to smoke, and registers 350 degrees on candy thermometer, about 5 minutes longer.  Meanwhile, when temperature of syrup reaches 300 degrees, bring cream and salt to simmer in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat.  (If cream reaches simmer before syrup reaches 350 degrees, remove cream from heat and set aside.)


3.  Remove sugar syrup from heat.  Pour about 1/4 of the hot cream into sugary syrup; stir, mixture will bubble (which is quite beautiful to watch), let bubbling subside.  Add remaining cream; stir, let bubbling subside.  Whisk gently until smooth, whisk in butter.  Let cool until warm; serve. (I poured mine into a pint glass canning jar, I could not fit it all in the pint, so recipe makes approximately 2 1/4 cups of sauce.  Can be refrigerated for up to 1 month (but trust me it will not last that long!); reheat by placing glass pint jar, uncovered, in a pan with water over low heat.)


I made this because I recently had a Pampered Chef party at my house and the dessert we chose called for a jar of store bought caramel...you know me...not happening in this house, so I made my own.  :-)  This sauce tastes DIVINE served over vanilla ice cream!  Or heck, who am I kidding it tastes great by digging your spoon into the sauce and eating it!  :-)  Enjoy!!!!  And let me know what you think!