The Chicken Process : Roast Chicken and Broth

There are a few things I need to cook to make myself happy and roast chicken is one of them. Making roast chicken starts off what I call the chicken process. There are hundreds of roast chicken recipes everywhere and I'mm well aware of how similar they may look to this one but this is the one I've been making the longest. From this chicken I often make broth(recipe below) or use the rest of the bird for other things such as chicken pot pie.

1 Whole 4-5lb organic chicken
2 Tbsp good olive oil
1 Head of garlic - halved
1 Small lemon - in quarters - Sometimes I can only fit half of the lemon, don't worry, there will still be great flavor.
6 Sprigs of Rosemary
6 Sprigs of Thyme
3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
Fresh ground pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

1. Wash off the chicken and its cavity and thoroughly dry the outside of the bird.
2. Sprinkle the olive oil all over the top the bird and massage under the skin of the breast.
3. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of kosher salt and grind some pepper in the cavity.
4. Put 4 sprigs of thyme, 4 sprigs of rosemary, garlic and lemon in the bird. - If you have kitchen twine tie the legs together.
5. Run your knife through the rest of the thyme and rosemary and sprinkle the herb mixture, garlic powder, remainder of the salt and pepper evenly over the bird.
6. Bake at 375 for 1 hour and 20 minutes or more if needed. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it.

Had to take this photos with my phone as my camera was missing at the moment. Sorry for the terrible quality. 

Since I'm always cooking for two I normally just carve the breasts for dinner that night and take one leg for the next day.

For Chicken Broth:

I then take the rest of the carcass remove what I can out of the cavity and pour water in a large sauce pan till the breast bone is about covered.

To the pot add :
2 Carrots
2 Stalks of celery
1 Small onion - halved.
If you saved the neck from the inside of the bird add this too for more flavor.
Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Let this mixture simmer covered for 2-3 hours.
2. Strain the broth and store in the fridge for a week of freezer for a month. I heard a great tip of freezing the broth in ice cube trays and storing the chicken broth cubes in freezer bags for when you just want to add a little chicken flavor to a dish.