Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Winter Vegetables - 7/10/04

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Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Winter Vegetables

1 3 1/2 lb broiler-fryer chicken
1 lemon, sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
3 thyme sprigs
kosher or coarse salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 medium leeks, white part only, washed carefully and thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin sticks or rounds
6 red potatoes, quartered
6 medium turnips, 2 medium rutabaga or 4 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into thin sticks (or any combination of these vegetables, enough to yield 6 cups)
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 14-ounce can chicken broth

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

2. Rinse chicken thoroughly. Put lemon, onion and thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Sprinkle the skin of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Scatter the leeks, carrots, potatoes, turnips and/or rutabaga over the bottom of a roasting pan. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper. Set the chicken on top of the vegetables. Pour white wine and chicken broth over chicken and vegetables.

3. Roast the chicken for 1 hour until the skin is browned, the juices at the joint of the thigh run clear when pierced with a knife, and a thermometer inserted into the flesh of the thigh registers 180 degrees fahrenheit. Stir vegetables and baste chicken with juices occasionally during cooking.

4. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Lift the vegetables into a serving bowl and pour or ladle the juices into a pitcher or gravy boat. Carve the chicken and serve with vegetable juices.

Source: National Chicken Council