Though mom always prefers to use her rotisserie to slow cook, here is our most recent adventure roasting a fresh whole chicken in the oven!

Our chicken is roughly 6.5 lbs and is from Countryview Barbecue located in the Lancaster Farmers Market in Wayne, Pa. The guts and such were inside the cavity in a bag, we pulled out and disposed of them. Unfortunately, the chicken neck was still intact, which is gross and shocking but ultimately provided more great bone juices for our pan gravy!

Prepare:

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees;

Depending on the size of either your roast pan or cast iron skillet, quantities will vary.
10-15 Small Yellow Baby Potatoes (whole)
1/2 sprig of Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5-7 Cloves of Garlic (whole)
2 Stalks Celery (matching in size & qty to potatoes)
10-12 Brussel Sprouts
1 Whole White Onion (matching in size & qty to potatoes)
*Optional: McCormicks Perfect Pinch Salt-Free Garlic & Herb Seasoning

Step One: Clean the chickens
Pull the whole chicken out of its container;
Pull out the guts from inside;
Check all the skin for anything else that may need to be removed (I found a feather, ew);
Rinse until cold water;
Thoroughly pat skin very dry using paper towels;

Step Two: Truss the chickens
Lay the chicken on its back;
Using cotton butchers twine (not to be confused with the decorative twine rope) cross the chickens legs one over the other and tie tightly;
Now, mom says this is not necessary but I also tied from the legs up around the wings and back to the legs. I did this to pull the wings closer into the breasts for more juicy wing meat;

Step Three: Prep your fixins
Wash all fresh produce in cold water and thoroughly pat dry;
Keep your baby potatoes, brussel sprouts and garlic cloves whole;
Peel & Cut White Onion in half;
Large diced (1) half of a White Onion (matching in size & qty to potatoes);
Large diced both Celery Stalks (matching in size & qty to potatoes);
Pull all of the leaves off of the sprig of Rosemary.
Put the remaining whole half of the white onion & the leafless rosemary twig directly into the cavity of the chicken;

Step Four: Prep your Skillet
Place the chicken, on its back, into the center of your cast iron skillet;
Salt and pepper the chicken (the skin should be dry) generously (add McCormicks Seasoning if desired);
Salt and pepper the bowl containing all your fixins generously (add McCormicks Seasoning if desired);
Drizzle EVOO all over the chicken (and a little in the bottom of the skillet);
Drizzle EVOO into your bowl of fixins;
Massage EVOO and seasonings all over the chicken, making sure there’s EVOO underneath the chicken in the skillet as well;
Mix up all the fixins in your bowl to spread the EVOO and seasonings evenly;