Bistro Roast Chicken

I am certainly so stranger to the supermarket rotisserie chicken.  They're a super convenient dinner option when time is not on my side.  I can pick up a rotisserie chicken, a loaf of whole grain bread, a bag of prepackaged salad and viola - dinner!  Nothing could be simpler and my family loves it.

Rotisserie chickens make it easier to fix all kinds of meals.  Tacos and quesadillas and wraps and salads and soups all come together in a jiffy when I start with a rotisserie chicken.  Even though I try and keep roasted chicken on hand, there are times when I just run out and it's easier to buy it already prepared than to take the time to roast it myself.  Not to mention the fact that my family really prefers the flavor of a rotisserie chicken to my chicken.  (I think they like all the sodium that is added to those birds.)

I found a recipe for Bistro Roast Chicken in my Cooking Light magazine that looked really a lot like the rotisserie chickens that I buy at the supermarket.  I decided to give it a try and see if I could recreate the moist and juicy supermarket version in my own kitchen. The real test would be to see if the kids liked it as well as the salt saturated supermarket version. 

Bistro Roast Chicken
2 Tablespoons minced fresh tarragon (I used 1 Tablespoon of dried tarragon instead.)
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme  (I substituted 1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme.)
4 teaspoons melted butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (41/2 pound) roasting chicken








Combine first 6 ingredients.








Remove giblets and rinse and pat chicken dry.  Place on a rack inside of a baking dish.

Rub herb mixture under skin and over breast of bird.







Bake chicken for 40 minutes at 375.

Flip bird upside down and roast another 40 minutes.  I used a big spoon and a spatula to flip this hot slippery bird over.





Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.

Slice and serve.

Our chicken dinner was simple - corn, salad, bread, chicken.  Super easy weeknight meal.

Turns out, the chicken was just and tender and juicy as the supermarket chickens.  It didn't get nearly as browned or get nice crispy skin so it was less visually appealing than a grocery store rotisserie chicken but it was just as tasty.  (Isn't that what really matters anyway?)  My family gobbled up most of this tasty chicken in one meal.  

Guess what I'm gonna do with my leftover chicken?  If you said chicken soup - you are right. 

Ciao!