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Senior Care Recipes: Roast Chicken

Senior Care in Youngsville, NC

Senior Care in Youngsville, NCCreating delicious, nutritious meals for your elderly loved ones can be one of the most loving, nurturing aspects of your senior care efforts. The food you prepare for them shows your love and concern for them, while also supporting their ongoing physical health and well-being by giving them the nutrients they need for proper functioning.

When the cooler weather of fall comes around, your focus for the meals you make for your seniors likely shifts to warm, filling meals that make you feel comfortable and cozy. One of the most traditional fall and wintertime meals is a roast chicken. This simple but delicious meal provides high quality protein and a serving of vegetables all cooked together for an easy dinner that makes your house smell welcoming, comforting, and nostalgic.

For an even easier dinner, prepare the chicken up to the roasting step in the morning and then ask your parents and their referred caregiver to handle the actual roasting in the afternoon so you can enjoy your meal together in the evening.

What You Will Need

  • 1 five to six pound roasting chicken
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 large bunch of fresh thyme plus twenty sprigs
  • 1 garlic head
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons of melted butter
  • 4 carrots
  • 1 bulb of fennel with tops removed
  • Olive oil
  • Dry cloth
  • 1 pastry brush
  • 1 sharp knife
  • A cutting board
  • Kitchen string
  • 1 roasting pan
  • 1 platter

What to Do

  • Using the sharp knife on the cutting board, halve the lemon and put aside
  • Cut the head of garlic in half, crosswise
  • Cut the ends off and peel the onion
  • Slice the onion thickly
  • Cut the carrots into two inch chunks
  • Cut the fennel into wedges
  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
  • Remove the chicken giblets
  • Rinse the inside of the chicken out thoroughly
  • Remove any excess or leftover pin feathers or fat from the chicken
  • Pat the outside of the chicken dry with the towel
  • Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken liberally
  • Stuff the chicken with the thyme, both halves of the lemon on both sides, and all of the garlic
  • Use the pastry brush to brush the chicken with the butter
  • Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper
  • Tie the legs together with the kitchen string
  • Tuck the wings under the body of the chicken
  • Add the carrots, fennel and onions to the roasting pan
  • Add salt, pepper, twenty sprigs of thyme and olive oil to the roasting pan
  • Toss until mixed well
  • Spread the mixture around the bottom of the roasting pan evenly
  • Place the chicken on top of the mixture
  • Place the chicken in the oven to roast
  • Roast the chicken for one and a half hours or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh
  • Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter
  • Cover the chicken and vegetables with aluminum foil
  • Let it sit for twenty minutes
  • Remove the aluminum foil and slice the chicken onto a platter and serve

Modified from this recipe.

The articles posted on this blog are provided for general information and discussion purposes only.  These articles are not intended to suggest anything with respect to the operations or services of this office.

If you or an aging loved one are considering non-medical in-home care in Raleigh, NC, call Griswold Home Care and speak to one of our caring staff members today. Call (919) 229-8944

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