Cook a Bird.

Whole Chicken with Carrots and Onions

I left the roasted, broiled, braised, or stewed off the title of this one because it kind of goes through two processes: braising and roasting. Broasted? Braisting? Whatever term you come up with it’s a wonderful meal. 

The onions I bought were simple spring onions, though it is not spring, from the local mercado. The chicken was an organic one from the Kroger. It's winter so our local options get a little more difficult to procure. It was a good bird though. Tasted great.

serves 4

1 3 to 4 pound chicken

¼ cup softened unsalted butter

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika

4 spring onions

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 ½ cups cold water

¾ pound carrots, peeled and bias cut to ½ inch thickness

preheat oven to 375°F

Remove the giblets from the chicken and set aside for another time. Take the chicken and rinse it well under cold running water. Pat it dry, pull off any fatty deposits that look excessive, around the cavity. Take two tablespoons of the softened butter and rub the bird all over with it. Season the bird inside and out with the salt and pepper. Tie the drumsticks together with some kitchen twine.Set it aside but at room temperature as you proceed to the next step.

            Place a dutch oven over medium high heat and add the butter. Thinly slice the white bulbs of the spring onion, reserving the tops for later. Add the sliced onion bulbs in the dutch oven and cook for three minutes. Place the chicken, breast side up in the pan and add the bay leaves, the vinegar and the water. Cover the dutch oven  and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, and then uncover the pot, baste the bird with the cooking liquid at the bottom of the pot. Slice the onion tops on the bias to ½ inch pieces and the onion tops and the sliced carrot to the pot, scattering them around the chicken. Turn the oven up to 425°F and place the dutch oven back in, but this time uncovered. Cook for 20 minutes and then remove from oven and let the bird rest for ten minutes before carving.

            Cut off the legs and separate the thighs and the drumstick by cutting through the joint. Place on a platter. Remove the breasts from the bird and slice. Turn the carcass over and remove the oysters from the back. Arrange all of the sliced chicken on the platter with the thighs and legs and then spoon over the cooking liquid, carrots and onion. Serve it family style with some polenta, some stewed greens and some chow chow.