There is nothing better than a roast chicken on a cool, fall night. The use of homegrown herbs, orange zest and juice, and hot honey makes for one flavorful bite. Feel free to change up the seasonings and come up with your own compound butter!

You first want to pat the bird dry using paper towels. This will help the skin get crispier. Then slather on that delicious compound butter. Change it up. Have fun with it. Sun dried tomato Basil compound butter? Delicious. Roasted garlic compound butter? Even better.

Then layer your aromatics at the bottom of the pan. To keep with the fall theme, I used apples, carrots, oranges and onions. I use the produce that’s on its last leg. It’ll be too greasy to eat. These aromatics only help flavor and add an aroma to your chicken as it’s roasting.

Midway through, I baste with chicken stock and white wine to keep the bird from drying out. I highly recommend doing this.

Once the juices near the thigh run clear, cover with foil and let rest on the counter for at least 15 minutes. Serve with homemade gravy from the pan drippings or barbecue sauce or both… why not?

Roast Chicken

Recipe by Renaissance Dan

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

Calorieskcal

Ingredients

• Compound Butter

• 3/4 cup butter, softened

• 1 head garlic, peeled

• 1 bunch rosemary, stripped

• 1 bunch thyme, stripped

• 1 bunch sage

• zest and juice of 1 orange

• 4 tbsp hot honey

• salt and pepper to taste

• Chicken

• 1 whole (6-8lb) chicken, giblets removed

• 1 onion, peeled and quartered

• 2 oranges, quartered

• 3 apples, quartered

• 2 carrots, peeled and quartered

• 1 bunch rosemary

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 1/2 cup apple cider

• 1/2 cup white wine

Directions

• Compound Butter
• Add all ingredients to food processor, pulsing until smooth.
• Chicken
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup) and spray with oil.
• Place aromatics (onions, carrots, apples, and oranges) in a layer in the roasting pan.
• Place bird directly on aromatics or on a rack, pat it dry, and season generously with salt and pepper.
• Spread compound butter all over the chicken and under the skin.
• Stuff cavity with extra rosemary. Make sure the chicken is laying breast side up, and tuck the wings under the body.
• Roast for about 2 hours, or until the juices between the thigh and leg run clear when cut. Every 45 minutes, baste with mixture of chicken broth, cider, and wine.
• Let rest 20 minutes before carving.