Best Roast Chicken. Ever.

When it comes to finding lost items, navigating foreign countries or computing statistical probability, I fall flat on my face.  But put me in the kitchen with a pile of fresh food and I get my knack on in a hurry.

Do you ever feel that urge to just cook something?   I really wanted to roast a chicken.  I needed to roast a chicken.   This urge to cook seems to be some type of biological imperative for me.  So when I wandered by Whole Foods the other day, I picked up a chicken, knowing full well that, with final exams looming, I had zero time for chicken roasting.

So late last night, after class, after my subway train broke (the door of one car wouldn't shut so we sat in a tunnel for 20 minutes while various people stared at it, rubbing their chins and shaking their heads), I preheated my oven and went all ballistic on a bird. 

Ben and I agreed that this was one of my best concoctions yet.  It was well after midnight when the chicken finally emerged from the oven, all golden and swollen with juices.  We brandished our forks and attacked that poor chicken straight from the pan, nibbling pieces of it piping hot, scalding our tongues on steaming cheese and not even caring.  So I thought I'd share the love.

Dinner Party Chicken

1 FRESH roasting chicken, about 3.5 pounds (free range tastes better!)

5 tablespoons of olive oil

1 package cream cheese

1/2 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

4 cloves finely chopped garlic

salt

pepper

cayenne

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, Monterey jack, garlic, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne.  Mix with a fork until well blended.  Set aside.

Wash and dry chicken inside and out.  Slide your fingers gently between the skin and the meat on the breast and legs, opening up a pocket of space.  You should be able to do this without creating any additional holes in the skin.

Gently stuff 3/4 of the cheese mixture into the space between the skin and meat on the chicken breasts and legs and smooth so the mixture is evenly distributed.  Place remaining cheese mixture into chicken cavity and center chicken in a 9"x9" baking pan.

Drizzle olive oil over chicken skin and use pastry brush to coat evenly.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.

Cook chicken at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 360 and cook until juices run clear from the chicken thigh.  The timing will depend on the exact weight of your chicken (probably around 60-70 more minutes).  DO NOT  baste or otherwise interfere with the chicken while it cooks. 

Remove fully cooked chicken from oven.  Gently spoon pan juices over the skin.  Serve hot with melted onions and biscuits.

Comments

[CatsPlay]

OH my GOD that sounds amazing!

You definitely should add this to the hens cookbook. My kids would love this - I'm going to try it. Did it get real 'messy' though when trying to remove and serve the meat?

http://community.livejournal.com/hens_cook/

[amanda]

yummy! that looks delicious! the best roast chicken i've ever had was in Munich in one of the beer tents. it was so salty i was thirsty days later.

[Veronique]

Yum! What a great idea to slide cream cheese between the skin and meat!

[Nathalie]

This sounds so decadent and so rich (my arteries are recoiling in horror as my taste buds are frollicking with glee).
What type of cheese is the Monterey Jack? Smocked cheddar?

I too would love to roast a chicken but I am yet to find a suitable one to try on the strangest of recipe, something I found in one of my brother's cookbooks. Shall report if I manage.

[Jocelyn]

Oh, WOW. Does that sound good, or what? I'm going to have to add that to my list of things to do ;)