Slow Roasted Chicken

Mm, chicken. We don't get chicken too often as a good one is hard to find, and not cheap when you do. However we saw this one in the freezer of a tiny Mennonite-run market in the middle of no-where (actually half-way between our old life and our new life) and figured it was bound to be a good one. Which it was. Slow roasting keeps the meat tender and moist.

6 to 8 servings
3 to 4 hours - 30 minutes prep time


Make the Stuffing
4 cups cooked barley
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 stalks of celery
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil
1 recipe poultry seasoning

You will need about 1 cup raw barley; as ever, I cook it in the rice cooker with 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt.

Peel and chop the onion. Peel and chop the carrot. Wash and chop the celery. Sauté them in the oil until soft and just slightly browned, adding about 2/3 of the seasoning mix when half done.

Mix the vegetables into the barley.


Stuff & Roast the Chicken:
1 6 to 7 pound chicken
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Stuff the chicken with the barley mixture. About 1/3 should go into the neck end first; the skin can be pulled over it and then the chicken can be stood on end while the rest of the stuffing goes in, without the first batch of stuffing falling out.

Place the chicken on a small rack in a deep, snup casserole dish and dust it with the remaining poultry seasoning, mixed with the salt and paprika. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan, and watch the chicken as it roasts. If it looks like drying out, add a bit more water. It shouldn't though; it should be producing lots of juices with the slow roasting.

Roast the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes per pound, until the bird is nicely browned and the leg wiggles freely.

If you want baked potatoes with your chicken, they should go in 2 hours before the chicken is done, because of the low temperature.

Once the bird comes out of the oven, it should sit for a few minutes before being carved. You'll need that time to get the stuffing out anyway. Pour the pan juices into a pot and thicken with a little flour.

Don't forget to make soup with the bones, scraps and any leftover dressing.





Last year at this time I made a Roast Leg of Lamb in a Spicy Sauce.