Always an impressive dish, a whole chicken provides plenty of protein, little saturated fat, and good amounts of B vitamins and zinc. A meal like this is perfect for noteworthy occasions, or just a simple family dinner.
To ensure a juicy bird, start roasting it breast side down so that the juices flow over the breast. Finish roasting it breast side up, basting the bird frequently to add extra moisture. Cook with the skin on to seal in the juices, but be sure to discard it before eating, since most of the fat is found in the skin.
The quantities for this recipe are way out. 3 onions, 3 celery and 4 cups of herb bread stuffing is far too much. I needed about 1/4 of it to stuff a large chicken. I would put 1/2 an onion, 1 small celery stick and 1 cup of stuffing. The herb combination of sage, thyme and pepper is nice but a bit plain. I added salt, garlic and butter, and made it all into a herbed butter which was much nicer. Stuffing lemon slices under the skin was really nice. Putting stock in the bottom of the baking tray is a lovely idea, it made the chicken very tender. The skin wasn't crispy though, which i missed as i love a good crispy skin on a roast chicken. I took some good tips from this recipe, but overall, it needs to be modified too much for me to say its any good. - 22 Feb 2017
This is a great recipe, shared it with our very large family all commented how nice. - 27 Jan 2016