Chicken: Dutch Oven Style

I've roasted a lot of chickens over the years (probably 1 or 2 per month).  They're simple, delicious and they provide leftovers for the week for salads and lettuce wraps or just cold chicken with a little sea salt.  I also always save the carcass, wrapping it up in the freezer and taking them out when I need to make more homemade stock.  Good stuff!  This time around, though, I thought I would try using the dutch oven method.

Preheat oven to 250 F

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs)
1 tbsp ghee (coconut oil or rendered animal fat of your choice is fine)
4 cloves of garlic, whole
2 medium onions, loosely chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 tsp dried thyme (fresh thyme if available)
1 tbsp dried rosemary (fresh rosemary if available)
2 good pinches of sea salt

Place dutch oven on stove top and heat ghee (or preferred fat) on medium heat.  Once well hot, place chicken breast side down into fat and sear for roughly 8 minutes.  Use this time to prepare you veggies and add them in as you go.  Once your 8 minutes is up, flip chicken and sear the back another 8 minutes.  Add salt and spices.

Once all veggies are in and searing is complete, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 1.5 hours or until you reach an internal temperature of 180 F (legs should be loosened from the cavity and juices running clear).

Once done, remove the chicken and place on a plate/platter.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the veggies and place in a bowl.  You will have a lot of liquid and fat left in the dutch oven, but you don't want this to go to waste.  There is some goodness in there.

Grab a wire mesh strainer and pour liquid through into a bowl.  The fat will rise to the top.  You can do two things with this.  Either save it in a jar for near future use; the fat will solidify and the chicken juices will gel.  I often use this for sauteing veggies when I'm making soups.  Or you can skim the fat off (pouring through a gravy separator works best) and serve the juices with your chicken.  I decided on the former this time.

This method of cooking produces an INCREDIBLY MOIST chicken.  Very flavourful and the veggies were delicious.  I particularly love how soft the sweet potato gets.  So yummy!