Whole Roasted Chicken with Apples, Oranges and Fresh Time
This is the perfect time of year to enjoy savory roasted meats with stored apples and fresh in-season citrus. Don’t forget to save the leftovers and make a delicious stock for winter soups and stews. My recipe above.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2- 3 ½ lb whole chickens
- 2 apples
- 2 oranges
- 10 springs fresh thyme
- gizzards from chickens
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
- butter melted (clarified butter or ghee works too)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the apples and oranges into large chunks. Combine with gizzards, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil in a large bowl. Crush the ingredients together with your hands.
- Stuff the chickens equally with the mixture and truss the chickens with butchers twine.
- Season the outside of the chickens with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Place in the roasting pan, breast facing up.
- Slide pan into oven and roast for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, basting every few minutes with the melted butter. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 30 minutes or until a thermometer in the chicken reads 160 degrees (This is Linda talking now instead of The Communal Chef. I don't know if it's an altitude difference but mine took more 45-50 minutes. Also, if your chicken is bigger than the 3 1/2 lbs the recipe calls for add 15 minutes per pound cooking time).
- Let the chickens rest for 10 minutes, carve and serve.