Roasted Indian Spice Chicken Dinner

Dinner is ready and chicken is on the table. Nothing is more domestic than roasting a whole chicken. I am extremely proud to announce "Husband! Wash up, the roast will be done soon!" Ok I don't ever say that but I do feel quite accomplished to successfully roast a bird.
The trick is to not under cook or over cook or burn it. A whole chicken can go a long way. The meat can be stripped and used for salads, soups, lunch, and dinner. Once the meat has been all used up the bones can be used for making bone broth. (I will be sharing this process in an upcoming post). To my surprise cooking a whole chicken is really not all that hard. You just have to be willing to put your hands inside a chicken and pat her down a bit. It requires a bit of pre-planning and a cute apron. Every lady needs an adorable apron.





Ingredients: 
4-5 lb whole chicken
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 large red pepper
1 large honey crisp apple
1 bunch of asparagus
1 lemon
1 TBS of real butter or ghee (see section on asparagus)  

To begin I always wash the bird (inside and out). I especially do this if I get the cheaper ones because they usually have been dipped in sodium for freshness.
So I clean her, then pat her down with a dish towel. A dry bird will crisp up much nicer than a wet one. I let her rest to the side while I prepare the remaining
ingredients and preheat the oven to 375. 

              

First I prepare the spices, today I am going for a Indian spice. I've had a cold and have read that certain spices like turmeric and ginger will speed up the healing process. I put equal parts of spice in a dish. The great thing about cooking with lots of flavor is you can use whatever you have in the kitchen at the time. Today I mix: 1 tsp of turmeric, ginger, cayenne, cardamom, and cinnamon. I also add salt and pepper to taste. I love the colors of spices. It reminds me that food is not supposed to be monochromatic but a joyful array of oranges, purples, gold, and red. The more colorful the tastier!

 
I prepare a quick veggie stuffing of red pepper and apple. I roughly chop up some sweet red peppers and crunchy honey crisp apples. The sweetness of the two will mellow out the hot Indian spice. I love the flavor of roasted vegetables cooked inside or around poultry. The fats from the poultry sweeten the apples and peppers and adds a side dish so you have a complete meal.  

The last thing to prepare is the butter. I soften the butter a bit to make it easily spreadable. I try not to melt it completely, you want the butter to still hold a solid state. I  I use ghee which is butter from pasture raised cows. Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in India and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine and ritual. I get mine from a local grocer but I believe you can find it at Whole Food or a Natural Grocer. The brand I use is Purity Farms Organic Salt Free Ghee Clarified Butter. You can use it place of butter for cooking, baking, or sauteing.  The ingredients are incredible.. 0mg / Serving Oxidized Cholesterol, Kosher, No Trans fatty Acids, Salt Free, No GMOs, Lactose & Casein Free. But if you do not have this on hand regular (real) butter will do. 

Now it is time to put it all together. I rub the butter all over the outside of the bird. Then I take the spice mix and rub some more. I make sure to spread spice in between the skin and the breast. I make sure to coat the entire layer of skin. Next, I place the apples and peppers between the skin and breast, inside the cavity, and surrounding the bird. It looks and smells delicious!  

By this time the oven should be heated to 375. I pop in the bird and set the timer to 90 minutes. What to do while I wait for dinner...I can tackle my to-do list, run quick errands, do some laundry, or read Martha Steward Living. I think I will go for door number 4. But I make sure to give myself enough time to make a quick asparagus side dish. Every domestic wife makes sure to include all the food groups with dinner. My grandmother used to make sure there was one veggie, one protein, one starch, one fruit, and one fat with every meal! 

While it is cooking I prep an asparagus side. This is the easier of the process. I wash and dry the asparagus and snip the ends. Sometimes I am so lazy I don't even do this. But I have an apron on so I feel like I must be true to my craft. I coat the asparagus with ghee, squeeze half a lemon on to the spears, and add salt and pepper to taste. When the bird is about 30 minutes from being finished I add them to the oven.

90 minutes later the house smells amazing and I am being praised by husband. "Oh wow this smells so good." "You are the best wife ever." "I LOVE CHICKEN..." I love to be praised :) I check the chicken for done-ness. The skin is crispy and the temperature of the breast is a perfect, 165 degrees. It is nearly impossible to resist eating it right there and then. We carefully carved the bird and plated the dinner. We divided up the apples, peppers, and portions of chicken. We added the asparagus and threw on a side salad. The chicken was perfect. Not to dry and cooked just right. We will definitely be repeating this dinner. I can't wait to get a cold again. I hope with my advice you too will take on the whole chicken and enjoy its' bountiful benefits. Throw on your apron and happy cooking!