Roast Chicken in Bundt pan

I roast a pretty fantastic chicken.  I can do harder things, fancier things and things that make people whisper nice things about me but I'll tell you, mastering the roast chicken is one of the things that puff my chest out and make me proud of what I've done.  

Simple is often the hardest to perfect but has the highest satisfaction rate. 

THAT being said, I have a couple of techniques up my sleeve that I pull out periodically to shake it all up.  I roast low and slow (see 5 hour chicken recipe)  I roast high and hot (see brandy chicken) and sometimes, I roast the bird sitting up, proud as you please, perched precariously (and painfully) upon the tube of a bundt pan.  It's the original one pot meal, you get all the veggies and crispy skin all the way round... and it looks cool which is just an added bonus. 

TRACYS BUNDT PAN CHICKEN

This is a total take on the beer can chicken, I wager the beer can people stole the idea from the bundt pan people.  We're old school. 

1 5 lb chicken, rinsed and dried
a couple of potatoes
a couple of carrots
an onion 
some garlic (shaved on my new fancy pampered chef garlic slivererer)
salt, pepper, thyme
a little oil, olive or vegetable, either is fine

Place one bundt pan on a much larger sheet pan.

Cut the veggies into 2 inch chunks, toss them into your bundt pan with a drizzle of oil and some salt and pepper.  Toss around lightly and there...veggie portion of the meal DONE! *you might want to stop now and have a glass of wine, you know, to celebrate your victory over half the meal in about 2 minutes. 

Salt, pepper and herb the chicken.  Then unceremoniously park the chicken on the tube of the bundt pan, fold the wings back so they don't burn.  Be sure the bird is above the veggies and not dug down inside them.  

Place the entire creation in a 425 oven for about an hour. 

Check it and spin it and turn the heat down to 400 and leave it in there about 20 more minutes, until it's cooked through and beautifully brown all the way around.  Look how beautiful that is!

Remove the pans from the oven.  Transfer the bird to a vessel (I use my blue Ikea ceramic pot) to rest about 20 minutes, you can leave him sitting up, it's fine.  Don't cover him, he'll get soggy and, as we've discussed before, there are no redeeming qualities about anything soggy.

Drain some of the juice from the bundt pan into a fat separater then dump the contents of the bundt pan onto the sheet pan and shush the veggies around.  Put them back in the oven for about 20 to finish cooking.  I like to nuke some peas at this point, you know for the green factor. 

Serve.  Enjoy that delicious bird with any juice that's left but the vegetables usually soak it all up which is ok, this is a beautifully tender and moist bird..

You look like a rock star for producing a roast meat and 4 vegetable dinner on a Tuesday and it took 5 minutes to prepare and even though it was over an hour cooking, you didn't have to DO anything but have a glass of wine, tend to homework and animals and get into comfy stretch pants or even better, jammie pants and bingo... you're done. 

HERE'S THE BEAUTY AND COMMENT SHOTS

Ahh, the new bundt pan.  I squirted a little olive oil in there.  Throw in some cut up veggies you like and Connor is using the new garlic slivererer to add a little somethin' somethin.
  

PLUNK!  one bird placed unceremoniously upon the tube!  Arms (wings) behind your back! Ooops, forgot to salt and pepper him.
  

One seasoned (now) bird, front and back... into the oven with you!
 

I'll be back in 45. 

I thought it needed longer cooking so I set the timer for another 20

NOW this is what I'm talking about! 

  

 

Take the vegetables (and look at all that yumminess) and drain some of the liquid into a fat separator and dump the veggies onto a pan and pop them back into the oven to finish or to keep warm
  

I'm leaving it all to rest and wait and I'm going to nuke some peas and voila, roast dinner mid week.

I'll post a plate shot later but this is one of the ways I make a roast chicken, it's quick, easy, delicious and look at all that beautiful brown, crisp, skin all the way around.  The bird is moist and juicy and tender and you will be as delighted as I doing it this way. 

Now, tomorrow, we use the bundt pan for monkey bread! oh ya baby! 

/enjoy