Even though it’s summer, we can’t seem to get away from roasted chicken! For dinner we’re eating chicken with hot italian sausage stuffed under its skin and rosemary in its cavity. The chicken was seasoned with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, garlic, cayenne, and paprika. To accompany the roast bird we served roughly chopped onions, celery, carrots, and russet potatoes that were tossed with garlic, salt, and pepper then roasted beneath the chicken allowing all the succulent pan juices to give them an incredible flavor.

Mmm… sausage
T: You make the best roasted chicken. That I’ve had. It’s always moist and damn delicious.
A: you know, it’s really hard to screw up a roasted chicken… as long as you season it well enough and don’t over cook it. hmmm, i guess under cooking it would screw it up too. or at least make your fellow diners dislike you if you made them sick.
T: So cook it right and season it right. Do you have any quick tips for how to accomplish that?
A: sure, i think most people’s gut instincts would keep them from seasoning it as much as it needs. i rub my seasoning under the skin of the bird, in the cavity, and on top of the skin…
T: how do you get the seasoning under the skin? I’m imagining a show I watched about botox injections.
A: hehehehe 🙂 no injections here my friend. i just run my fingers under the skin to open up a pocket, pour season in, rub it around, and make sure every inch has been seasoned. also, chicken is really easy to remember how long to cook too. Cook a chicken for 18-20 minutes for every pound, start it at a high temp (450 degrees F) for 15-20 minutes then drop it to 350 for the rest of the cooking time. that ensures a crispy, golden skin.
T: sounds relatively easy. It certainly tastes awesome. I really liked the sausage that you put in this chicken, too. Chicken stuffed with sausage just really works.
A: yeah, unless your a vegetarian, meat stuffed with meat is generally a great thing.
T: and if you’re a vegetarian you can always mold your soy product into the shape of a chicken, then stuff it with a soy product in the shape of sausage. It’s really great for everyone. The potatoes and carrots were great in this dish too.
A: anytime a “veggie” (i don’t think of potatoes as veggies, i consider them a starch) is cooked in animal fat (confit-ed) it’s a great thing. 🙂 and it’s super easy when you’re roasting a chicken to just throw some lightly seasoned veggies beneath the bird and not have to make anything else for the meal.
T: mmm… yeah. cooking veggies in the same pan as a roasting chicken. me likey. I give this meal a 4.52/5. The onion was really tasty, the sausage was awesome, the chicken was absurdly good as all of your roasted chickens are. Potatoes and carrots aren’t my favorite of all the veggies, but they were rocking in this dish. What’s your rating?
A: i agree this was a tasty meal. i am partial to roasted chicken though, it’s one of my all time comfort foods. this particular chicky was great. i’ve never used sausage under the skin before and i thought the sausage juices gave the bird a great flavor. i give it a 4.67/5. it toats for sho hit the spot for me. unfortunately we can’t eat this meal everyday or else we may have early onset of high cholesterol, but hey! we’re still young.
T: At least I am.
A: you a-hole 😛