Whole Chicken Roast and Broth

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Whole chicken with giblets removed. Try and get a fresh, large chicken that weighs minimum of four pounds. Separately roast the giblets and use to make broth.

For Chicken Rub
Crushed Ginger and Garlic - 1 tbsp
Dried Thyme - 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Greek Yogurt - 1 tbsp
Himalayan Salt and Black Pepper

For layering the baking tray and stuffing
Onions - 3
Carrots - 3
Celery Sticks - 3
Parsley - a generous handful with stems as well.
Sage - 10 leaves
Carved Chicken
Avocado Oil - a splash (2 tbsp max)
Salt and Pepper

For Roasting Giblets
Giblets
Avocado Oil - 1 tsp
Salt and Pepper to taste

For Chicken Broth
Onion - 1 (roughly chopped)
Carrots - 2 (chopped roughly)
Celery - 2 sticks (chopped roughly)
Garlic Cloves - 6
Whole Cinnamon Stick - 1
Whole Cloves - 4
Whole Cardamom - 2
Pepper Corns - 8
Bay Leaves - 2
A couple big pinches of salt
Any herbs you like or have

Method:

Chicken Roast

  • Preheat oven to 425F.
  • Mix all the ingredients listed in "For Chicken Rub".
  • Pat chicken dry.
  • Apply the prepared mix from step 2 all over chicken and even inside.
  • On a baking tray layer chopped onions (use two for layering), carrots, celery sticks and sprinkle some avocado oil and salt and pepper. Mix and spread evenly on the surface.
  • Stuff herbs and the remaining onion (halve it) into the chicken.
  • Roast for an hour to hour and a half. Depending on the size of your chicken and the oven temperature you may have to decrease or increase the roast time.
  • When you think it is done, insert a thermometer in the fleshy portion of the thigh and check the temperature. If it is 170F, it is ready.
Carve the Roasted Chicken
  • Let it sit for about 15 minutes, scoop out the stuffing and then carve.
  • Try and scrape meat off the bones and use the scraped meat for soup.
Roasted Giblets
In a saucepan, add avocado oil and warm it and then add the giblets and roast for 10 minutes.

Chicken Broth
  • Using the carcass, make chicken broth.
  • Add the carcass, roasted giblets and all the ingredients listed under "For Chicken Broth" in a crockpot.
  • Add water till all the ingredients are fully submerged in water. 
  • Turn the crockpot on high for an hour and then turn it to low and let the broth go on for 16-20 hours.
  • Strain, cool and save it in fridge and use it wherever the recipe calls for broth. You can also drink it. It is not only tasty but is also healing.