Roasted Chickens with Caramelized small white onions and sautéed Kale

I took a drive on Sunday to a local chicken farmers and purchsed a couple of Local pasture raised hormone/antibiotic free chickens. Thank you Kinsey at Creek SideChicken! Luckily his farmer friend had brought over some produce and I took advantage of getting some Kale. (Best in the winter...sweeter).  I also wanted to thank my co-worker Christie for supplying the onions...perfect timing!  THANKS!! xoxo
So I am going to share my roasted chicken recipe. Actually made two because I will use the second for another dish that I will post later.


Roasted Chickens

 

Roasted Chickens




Ingredients:

2 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chickens
Kosher salt Ground black pepper
Thyme leaves
1 large bunch fresh parsley
1 orange, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, halved
2 celery hearts
½ cup white wine (chardonnay will work here)



Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry.

Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of parsley, both onion halves, 1 for each chicken, both halves of orange, 1 for each chicken, celery hearts, 1 for each chicken and garlic.
Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Pour the wine in the bottom of the roasting pan and cover with the lid.

Roast the chicken for 1 ½ hours and remove the lid. Let cook for an additional ½ hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh and the skin is nicely browned and crispy. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes (tented), you dont want the skin to get soggy! Slice the chicken onto a platter.

I normally roast 2 chickens at the same time so I have one for the meal and sandwiches and the other chicken is used for another recipe the following night. Big time saver!!　



There are some beautiful juices there...Pan gravy should be made with this...However, my
puppies got this with dinner! : )



　


Caramelized Onions & Sautéed Kale
Ingredients

25 small white boiling onions
2 cups water
1 tsp Kosher salt, plus an extra pinch for the kale
1 tsp Ground black pepper, plus an extra pinch for the kale
2 tsp Sugar
5 whole cloves
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch of kale


Preparation:

Clean the kale. Remove the center vein and tear the kale into pieces. I fill the sink with water and put the kale in there and swish it around to get ride of any hidden dirt. Let soak while the onions are cooking. Then squeeze the excess water out and place on a kitchen towel.

Clean the skin off the onions. Add the water, kosher salt, black pepper, sugar and cloves to a sauté pan over medium heat and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the onions and simmer until the onions are just tender. Be sure to be gentle so not to break up the onions. Once they are tender, strain the liquid into a bowl and reserve for the Kale. Put the pan back on the heat and add the butter and oil and a sprinkle of sugar to the onions. Toss with a spoon so all the onions are coated. Let them cook for a few minutes and gently turn over to caramelize the second side. Once they are at the right color for you remove and put on a plate.
There will be some great brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove the cloves from the reserved liquid. Add the reserved onion liquid to the pan and scrape up the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Let the liquid come to a small boil, there will be very small bubbles forming around the edge of the pan. Add the cleaned Kale to the liquid and toss.
The kale will wilt down quite a bit. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the kale and let the liquid reduce by half. Then pour over the kale.