Roast Chicken with Winter Root Vegetables

Roast Chicken with Winter Roots is a great winter dish. Yes, it takes some time. But, for the most part, it is not at all difficult. And, the end result is spectacular.
Winter root vegetables - What are they? Well, they're those great underground wonders that you pass right by in your produce section as you head toward the tasteless realm of frozen vegetables.They're the rutabagas and parsnips and turnips and beets whose rich texture you have yet to
experience. that you pass right by in the produce section. Yes,they take some time. Certainly more than opening a bag of frozen peas and carrots. By not that much more time. And when you taste them, you'll see that they are dense and rich and filling. So, maybe you won't need as much of the highly caloric meat. Root vegetables, when baked, take on a rich honey like quality that satisfies fully. Even the Brussel sprouts take on a sweet and substantial taste.
And the chicken.... Now, if you can find a true pasture raised chicken, it may cost you three or even four dollars a pound. So, that means a whole hen may cost about fifteen or sixteen dollars. But what would you spend if you went to a fast food hamburger place that serves you factory beef?
OK, yes, you can go to the grocery store to buy an already roasted chicken for about six or seven dollars. You can put it on the table and crack open a plastic container of potato salad as a side dish. I've done that myself on more than one occasion. But there are time for something more. Something for what you put on the table is coming directly from you to your family. This is a really wonderful and rich winter dish that puts that extra something on the table. And, it makes full use of the wonders of winter root vegetables:garden gifts that are far too neglected If you can, try to buy quality items. In winter, the local famers that set up their tables in the town sqaure are gone. As much as I would like to eat local, it simply isn't possible when you live in parts of the country where winter means cold, freezing temperatures that do not sustain much in vegetables. So, where do you go for produce?
Of course, it would be good if the produce were organic. But what does that really mean? The question of organic is something pointless. So, look to places that offer tight skinned, full and firm vegetables. I find my local

Asian market to offer a vast variety of quality items. The national chain "Whole Foods" certainly features some beautiful root vegetables, but how
organic they may be is open to question.
Finding a good chicken is not an easy thing. When I was a child, chicken came from 9th Street in South Philadelphia. In those days, the 9th Street market was lined with faded gray wood cages. The bars were caked with hen feathers glued to the wood bars by droppings. Inside were thechickens, alive a cackling.  As children we loved to tap the cages to make the hens cackle even louder. Some kids would even pluck at the feathers. At Easter time, the sellers had crates of the chicks. I imagine they sold at about ten
cents each. We took home six or seven and kept them in a light warmed box in the basement. Half of them would die. But the those who survived
began to outgrow thier fluffy Easter down and develop coarse, stiff
feathers. They just weren't cute anymore. My father gave them
to a farmer. From there, I suppose they became our Wednesday night
chicken dinner.
These days, where most grocery store chicken comes from is not something you want to know. Commercial chicken production is at the lowest and most vile level.  If I am going to eat a flesh animal, I would like
to think that the animal has been humanely raised and slaughtered.  I try to buy a chicken that it "grass pastured:" a chicken that is not raised in a coop but that has been allowed to roam and scratch and forage for food. The claims of "grain fed" chickens are meaningless. Chickens do not naturally eat grains. They forage and their natural diet includes grasses and bugs. In winter, however, even pastured chickens need grain supplements.  Don't be taken in by Perdue recent claims. Their chickens are mass produced. Recently, I have found chickens in our local Asian market that are tagged with metal clips that say "Buddhist Approved." Now, I don't know specifically what that means, but my hope is that the chicken has been humanely raised and slaughtered.
For those of us who care about animals that we use as
our food and they way they give their lives for our purposes, such things as
their raising and their slaughter are important and difficult questions.

What you need
Note: if you brine the chicken, you need two days.

Equipment
A container (pot) big enough to hold the chicken and water.
Roasting Pan.
Aluminum foil.
Meat Thermometer.
Very, very sharp poultry knife.

A pasture raised chicken.
Root
vegetables - quantities are not exact.
Pick what you think you need. It's also good to keep in mind that you may want to have more vegetables than you have meat.
Carrots- about six.
Parsnips - about six.
Turnips - two or three.
Celery Root - one or two.
Rutabaga - one or two.
Onions - weet (Vidalia) two nice size
Potatoes - three baking or a good handful of fingerling.

Golden Beets - three or four of a nice size.
Half pound of Brussels Sprouts.
Half pound of regular Mushrooms.
Olive oil.
Butter.
Salt and Pepper.
Thyme ( ground).
Lemon, one,

Brining the chicken (optional but a good step)

The night before,set the chicken to brine in a full pot of water that has been heavily salted and to which you also add about two tablespoons of sugar.
Set in the refrigerator.

Boning the chicken (optional)

Boning the chicken lets it cook more evenly and quickly. You can also ask your butcher to do this. Or, do it yourself.

With a very sharp boning knife remove the backbone.

Breast bone

Now, slide the knife under the breast bones and remove them.
Save all the bones for soup base.

Lemons

Turn the chicken over.
Slice the lemon and insert the slices under the skin.

It is very easy to loosen the skin with your fingers. Be careful not to tear it.

Set the chicken aside until the vegetables arfe ready.

Root vegetables
These are roasted first. They take about an hour longer than the chicken.

Peel the vegetables that need peeling.
Cube the potatoes, onions and rutabegas.
Leave all the other roots
whole.
Put them in a baking pan lined with foil.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
Important: The vegetables go into the oven without the chicken to roast for at least an hour.
The roots take longer.

Add the chicken

After an hour, takle out the vegetables and set the chicken on top. If you have boned the chicken, the breast will spread across the vegetables.
Insert thermometer.

Side touches: greens and mushrooms.

Mushrooms and stock

Slice the mushrooms and sautez them in butter.
If you have made stock from the chicken bones, add about a cup to the mushrooms.
Salt and pepper.
Hold them aside until the chicken is ready.

Beet Greens.

Save the green tops from the beats.
Sautez them in some olive oil and garlic.\
Save as a side for the chicken.

You can also add any other greens such as Swiss chard or spinach.

When is it done?
When the roast chicken has reached 160, remove it from the oven.
Put the root vegetables back in thew over to keep them warm while you cover the chicken in aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.
After the extra 15 minutes, take out the root vegetables. If they are not yet tender, give them 15 minutes more.
PLATING:
Serve family style or cut the chicken into equal parts. Each breast half may be cut in two.
Place a piece on each dish.
Spoon some of the mushroom sautee on each piece
Add a nice serving of the roast vegetables.
Add the sauteed beet greens.
You have a complete nutritional serving and one that is most satisfying.