Rosemary Garlic Roast Chicken

rosemary garlic roast chicken

A gloomy sky recently took the edge off the previous days of scorching heat. An unexpected sudden shower even washed away the neighbouring streets. I love the smell of asphalt when rain hits. There’s something liberating and something unchanged about it. Loud thunder reminds me of the humid Japanese typhoon seasons of my childhood. Only our summer here in Vancouver is much drier.

French pole beans

One of things I like about the Vancouver region is that we can cook pretty much anything in any season. We can have fresh tomato salsa one afternoon and stew the next day. There are no set rules, per se. It’s because summer can take a sudden turn, and I consider we’ve been lucky this year to have had two extra weeks of sun that we didn’t have last year. Today, it felt right to do a roast chicken, something cozy and homey in contrast to the stormy evening. I roasted just harvested carrots and French pole beans to accompany the poultry. While listening to the thunder, we served some red wine and warm garlicky whole chicken. It’s still pouring outside, providing much needed rain drops for every food grower.

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Rosemary Garlic Roast Chicken

Serves 2 plus leftover for next day’s sandwich

1 Free range organic chicken

A few sprigs rosemary, cut into 1 inch lengths

A few sprigs thyme

2 garlic cloves, cut into sticks

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

15 baby carrots, leaves removed

A big handful of pole beans and/or bush beans

Take out the chicken from a refrigerator about half an hour before cooking. In the meantime, prepare the vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Wash the chicken inside out and pat dry. Lay the bird chest up in a roasting pan and rub it with butter and olive oil before giving a gentle massage to the bird. Cut ten or so slits in the chest and insert a piece of rosemary and garlic in each slit. Fill the cavity with the rest of the garlic and rosemary.

Roast the chicken in the oven for about one hour and twenty minutes, basting often (spoon the grease from the bottom of the pan and pour over the chicken) about every 25 minutes. Then add the vegetables and thyme around the chicken, and baste the grease over them. Continue roasting until thoroughly cooked for about another 40 minutes or longer depending on the size of a chicken.

Take the pan out of the oven and transfer the chicken and the vegetables to a serving plate. Cover the bird with a piece of aluminum foil and rest for 15 minutes. Reserve the grease from the pan for making gravy sauce (recipe below).

Gravy Sauce

The grease from the bottom of the roasting pan

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons white wine

Flour

Salt and pepper

Combine the grease, chicken broth and wine in a medium pan over medium heat. Reduce to half. Add flour in a small amount and stir well till your favourite consistency is achieved. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately with the rosemary garlic roast chicken.

 

8 thoughts on “Rosemary Garlic Roast Chicken”

  1. It hasn’t rained here for many months now and even though i love sunshine and summer.. i would love to feel some wet land and rain! Love the styling of your photos.

    1. Hi Kankana. Indeed, it was nice to have some rain to freshen up my garden so I can have more food to write about here:) Thank you for your nice feedback!

  2. Rosemary and Garlic is my favorite flavor combo right now! This recipe looks and sounds amazing. I must say you are a really talented photographer and food stylist!

    1. Hi Jasmine. Thank you for visiting my blog and your kind words! I believe rosemary and garlic are made for each other:) Enjoy the recipe!

  3. Such gorgeous photos and light!! You have an amazing eye.

    I was in Vancouver a few summers ago and fell in love with the city, rain or sunshine 🙂

    1. Hi Christine, thank you for visiting my blog and also your wonderful comment! Hope you come back to Vancouver again to discover many more beautiful places!

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