Cast Iron Cooking--Chicken and Fixings

I love a meal that is easily prepared, delicious and nutritious; this recipe is all three and more.

Start with one whole, all-natural chicken. Pat skin completely dry (this ensures deliciously crispy skin) and stuff cavity with fresh herbs which will infuse their wonderful aroma into the meat. Apply coarse sea salt liberally to skin. Place in a cast iron pan and cook @450 degrees F.

3 lb chicken takes approx. 45 minutes. Increase the cooking time by 15 min. per lb. So 4lb. chicken would take an hour. 5lb. 1:15, etc. 6lb, 1:30. This method of cooking a whole chicken is recommended for 6lbs. and under.

In the meantime prepare vegetables to be cooked in the rendering of the chicken. Feel free to experiment. I have used broccoli, potatoes and onions in this demonstration, but have used carrots, spinach, kale, squash, etc. Aim for seasonal, organic vegetables. Potatoes take a little longer than some vegetables and should be cut small, or can be shredded (for hashbrowns) to cut down on the cooking time.

After chicken is cooked, remove herbs from cavity and discard. Then saute your vegetables of choice in the remaining drippings on the stove top until tender. The vegetables absorb most of the fat (which is quite healthy in all natural meat) and the drippings/fat also helps your body to absorb the vitamins and nutrients of the vegetables more efficiently.

So yummy you won't even miss the gravy, but if you do, there are usually enough drippings even after the cooking the veggies to make some.

To get the most bang for your buck (which you especially want if you are paying more for high quality meat) save the bones add a little sea salt and even the herbs pulled out of the chicken to make a quick, easy and healthy chicken stock for later use.