Nothing makes for a simple and delicious meal across the Kingdom of Hyrule quite like grilled or roasted meat. Meat is commonly cut into steaks and grilled or cut into roasts and roasted over an open fire. Poultry is also often roasted over fires, either in pieces or whole. Of these simple preparations, the roasted whole bird is perfect for Hyrulean holidays and celebrations. Using minimal aromatics and seasonings, the whole bird is roasted to perfection.
"This raw whole bird has been tickled by an open flame to bring out its flavor. Less is more, as the lack of additional seasoning allows its natural taste to shine."
Um... well... about that. So, for this preparation, I kind of strayed a little bit and used some additional seasonings. Sorry about that... but, this is still a very simple approach to preparing a whole bird. This is a perfect way to bring a little Zelda into your holiday celebration.
I took a little inspiration from the French Poulet Roti for this whole bird preparation. The cavity of the bird will be filled with some basic aromatics and the outside of the bird will be seasoned with Rito Spice and basted in melted butter. The bird will be roasted over some root vegetables and herbs. The end result is a fairly simply roasted chicken with some aromatic accents (and some roasted vegetables to accompany). There is an additional gravy recipe that can be made to accompany and further accent the poultry. You can also choose to skip the vegetables and set the chicken on an oven safe wire rack in the roasting dish instead. The roasted poultry and vegetables do make for a fantastic centerpiece for a Hyrulean holiday feast... whatever holidays they actually do have in Hyrule.
Ingredients
1 3- 4 lb whole chicken
7 sprigs of rosemary
12 sprigs of thyme
1 small onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 lemon, quartered
6-8 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp Rito Spice
Salt and pepper
4-5 carrots, chopped*
3 potatoes, chopped*
1 cup chicken stock*
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Gravy
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp Rito spice
1½ cups chicken stock
Preheat an oven to 425°F.
While the oven is preheating, we will prep the bird for roasting. Remove any bags of innards from the cavity of the chicken and pat the outside and inside cavity dry with paper towels.
Once dried, stuff the onion quarters, garlic, lemon quarters, 3 sprigs of rosemary, and 6 sprigs of thyme into the cavity of the bird. Season the bird liberally with salt and pepper, and then season with the Rito Spice, making sure to distribute the spice evenly across the whole bird. Lastly, brush the bird with melted butter, ensuring the breast, legs, wings, and thighs are well coated.
Add the potatoes and carrots to a large bowl. Season well with salt and black pepper, add the olive oil, and toss the vegetables to evenly coat them with the oil and seasoning.
Arrange the vegetables in the bottom of a large enough roasting tray. Nestle the remaining rosemary and thyme sprigs among the vegetables. Tuck the wings of the chicken underneath its body, and then set the chicken on top of the vegetables.
*If you choose not to use the vegetables, simply place the chicken on a roasting rack in the roasting pan. Add the herbs to the bottom of the pan along with the chicken stock instead. You may need to add more chicken stock to the bottom when you reduce the temperature later on.
Place the roasting pan in the center of the oven. Allow the chicken to roast for 20-30 minutes, until the skin begins to brown.
Once it begins to brown, reduce the temperature to 350°F, carefully remove the roasting tray from from the oven. Add 1 cup of the the chicken stock to the bottom of the tray.
Brush the skin with melted butter again, and return it to the oven. Allow the chicken to roast for an additional 60 minutes, or until it is cooked all the way through. Brush the chicken once more with melted butter halfway through the hour-long roasting time. The chicken is fully roasted when the internal temperature reads 165°F all around (check the chicken at various points, including joints).
Remove the tray from the oven and allow the chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes. Remove the aromatics from its cavity and discard them. Remove the rosemary and thyme from the vegetables in the tray and discard them as well.
While the chicken is resting, make the gravy. If there are any drippings in the bottom of the pan, combine them with additional chicken stock to make 1 ½ cups total. If there are no drippings, just use 1 ½ cups of chicken stock.
Place a pot over low heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour, and whisk it onto the butter to form a roux. Allow the roux to cook for one minute. Add the Rito spice and whisk it onto the roux. Allow it to cook for one more minute. Now slowly add the chicken broth about 2-3 tbsp at a time, whisking the broth completely into the roux each time. Continue this process until the chicken stock has all been whisked into the roux, creating a gravy. Turn the heat up to low-medium and allow the gravy to thicken a little more, about 3-5 minutes. remove the gravy from the heat.
Carve the chicken and serve alongside the roasted vegetables with the gravy. Enjoy!
Learn more about the Roasted Whole Bird from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at Zelda Dungeon.