Whole Roasted Heritage Chicken
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 stick butter, softened or 1/2 cup lard, softened
salt & pepper
chopped fresh herbs
White wine or chicken stock
Instructions
- Take the chicken out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 300F. Remove any remaining pin feathers, wipe chicken and pat dry with a towel.
- Combine herbs, salt, and pepper and softened butter or lard. Slip butter or lard mixture between skin and chicken meat over breast meat. Season inside of bird with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan with sides. Add white wine or chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan in a shallow layer. If you have a rack, use it. If you don’t, don’t worry about it but forgo the liquid layer. Your chicken might be a tiny bit drier as a result.
- Cook chicken for one hour at 300F, then turn oven temperature up to 400F for an additional 5-10 minutes to brown and crisp the skin. Heritage breed chickens require a long, low temperature to help break down the intramuscular structure. The chicken will be tough if cooked a a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time. Cook to an internal temperature of 165F.
- Pull the chicken from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes at least before carving.
