Orange and Cilantro-Chive-Butter Roasted Chicken with Potato Wedges and Two Sides

So far, this is the way I prefer roasting my chicken.  I love the freshness, that aromatic flavor of a lemon-roasted chicken, but it’s not my husband’s or my children’s favorite.  I end up being the only one eating the lemons and the meat that roasted with the sunny dominant flavoring of the lemon which tends to saturate in parts; so what fun is that, cooking something that they detest eating when I’ve put in much work and devotion while trying to prepare a good meal for them?  I want them to be equally as content and fed with the comfort of having a pleasing meal as I do.  Besides, a cook and provider gets more enjoyment out of feeding people.  There is something special about the hospitality, even if it’s simply your family without having a guest at your table.

The juice extracted from the orange into butter that is spread under the skin, over it and in the cavity, makes the meat even juicier.  That is my thinking of the comparison of both fruits.  It seems that the orange with the butter and herbs, primarily the cilantro, did a finer job on the chicken than the lemons.  Oh, I love my lemons, too!   The orange with the cilantro and chives make it meld just right, the fruit not dominating the chicken to overtake it.  My family went for second and third helpings.  I was happy in how content they were, that they were healthily and pleasingly fed.

I don’t discard the blooms; I use them, too, when I chop my chives.  I cook and bake with herbs in a wide variety of ways.  I thrive and live for that thrill and creativity from the garden to the kitchen.  I think it’s healthier, too.

In 1 1/2 sticks softened salted butter, do that, add and incorporate the chopped chives with their blooms along with chopped cilantro and minced or chopped garlic.  Make it a creamy substance.  Squirt in just enough juice from half an orange, using little juice for the butter so it keeps a nice consistency.  Use the rest of the halved orange for juice in the cavity and over the washed and dried chicken after coating it with the butter mixture.  Make sure there is no water and blood in the cavity before doing this.  Drain the chicken, well.  It must be towel-blotted, completely dried, for the seasoned butter to stay on the skin for roasting.  Without tearing the skin, reach with butter-coated fingers to disperse the herbed butter between the skin and the meat.  Sliding your fingers and thumb over the top of the skin also when doing this, helps to spread the butter inside that area.  Place the second half of the orange inside the cavity with more fresh garlic, not only with the herb butter that is left over.

Instead of placing the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, I like to line the pan with thickly-sliced onions to bed the chicken.  That way, the onions help season the broth from the chicken.  I don’t throw out the liquid after dinner; that broth gets used in other dishes.  If I don’t plan to cook with the broth in the next couple of days, I freeze it.  Those onions contribute to the flavoring of the broth just as importantly as the seasoning of the butter and herbs.

Don’t put a cold chicken in the oven.  Let it set lightly-covered at room temperature for 30 minutes before slathering it with its dressing of seasonings.   After doing so, place it in a preheated 400º oven.  Don’t put a lid on it.  Let it roast a crispy covering of skin.  Halfway through approximated cooking time, drizzle its juices onto the skin and around the sides with a large spoon or baster.  Allow to roast 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the bird.

For the potatoes, cut long russet baking potatoes into wedges.  Butter the baking dish, bottom and sides.  Dot with salted butter over the wedges , then sprinkle with steak seasoning.   Do not spoon up the potatoes to turn them or shift them; they should not stick to the dish if you’ve buttered well.  You want them to have good coloring, not break from a cooking utensil when cooked almost tender, so leave them alone during roasting except for dotting more butter onto the tops of them again to finish roasting.  Brushing butter over them will take off the seasoning.

Try to time it just right so the potatoes are through roasting after the chicken has rested for 15 minutes before carving so that everything is hot when served.

For an added side, cannellini beans with cilantro and red onion are a good combination.  Green beans with steak seasoning and sliced garlic cloves with slivered onion are simplistically put together and tastefully good.

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