Roast Chicken With Creamy Cauliflower Mash

If you’re looking for an easy no-fuss dinner, you can’t beat a crispy skin roast chicken.
3 simple steps and you’re done!   STUFF, SEASON and POP IN THE OVEN.  No need for trussing and fussing.  A few simple techniques, and you’ll have ear shattering crispy skin, and tender juicy meat.

Sometimes it can be a juggling act to get the skin crispy, the dark meat fully cooked, and the breast meat still juicy.

TIP #1: CRISPY SKIN

The secret to getting crispy skin is having the raw chicken as dry as you can get it, and the air temperature in the oven hot and dry too.  Having a convection oven gives it an extra little help

TIP #2: JUICY TENDER MEAT

Most people truss a chicken, but with this method we just fill the cavity with a whole lemon and a small onion that’s been quartered.  This does two things.

• Flavors the chicken internally
• Because the cavity has been sealed, it doesn’t allow the heat to cook the chicken from the inside, only from the outside.  Resulting in a juicy fully cooked chicken.

We’ve also teamed this with a delicious and creamy cauliflower mash.
As with our previous “Faux-Tato Au-Gratin”recipe, we’ve removed the super earthy cauliflower taste by first boiling the cauliflower in chicken bone broth, which gives it more of a potato like flavor.

ROAST CHICKEN INGREDIENTS:

1     large chicken
1     medium lemon (whole)
1     small onion (quartered)
course Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove anything inside chicken cavity and rinse.  Stuff cavity with onion quarters, followed by the whole lemon.
2. Completely dry all sides of the chicken with paper towels until skin feels dry.
   Sprinkle with course kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Be generous with the salt, as this will also help dry out the skin more, as well as season it).
3. Place chicken into 12″ cast iron skillet and leave it out for 1 hour.
4. At the 30 minute mark, preheat oven to 425F for convection (preferred) or 450F for a regular oven.
5. After chicken has been out for 1 hour, place chicken onto the middle shelf of oven and roast for 1 hour.
6. After cooking, use a thermometer in thigh (165F internal)  and make sure that juices are running clear.  If juices run pink, put back in oven and check every 5 minutes.

CAULIFLOWER MASH INGREDIENTS:

1     large head of cauliflower, separated into medium florets.
4     cups chicken broth/stock
1     TBSP butter
1     TBSP cream cheese
1     TBSP heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place cauliflower into a large saucepan and pour in broth/stock
2. Over medium/high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer, until cauliflower is soft and tender.
3. Drain the cauliflower into a colander, then place cauliflower back into the saucepan over the heat to let extra moisture out.  About 1  minute.
4. In a food processor/blender, place the cauliflower, butter, cream cheese and heavy whipping cream together and blend for 30 seconds.  Scrape down the edges, and blend again for another 20 seconds.
5. Season to taste.  Garnish and Serve.

PRODUCTS WE USE:

LODGE 12″  CAST IRON SKILLET
PIONEER WOODEN KNIFE SET
PIONEER WOMAN CUTTING BOARD
IRON LOOK 7″ PORCELAIN BOWL

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