Home >Recipes >Roasted Chicken on the Cocorico with Winter Vegetables

Serves: 4

• one 3 1/2 to 4 lb whole chicken, wing tips removed
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp citrus rosemary gray salt
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 tbsp gray salt
• 1/2 lb turnips, peeled and cut into two-inch pieces
• 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into wedges
• 1/2 lb carrots, peeled and cut into two-inch pieces
• 3/4 lb Yukon gold creamer potatoes, halved

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours

Soak the Cocorico in cold water for 30 minutes.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and dry well. Coat the outside with half of the olive oil. Season the chicken on the inside and outside with three tablespoons of the seasoning salt. Place the rosemary sprigs and lemon inside the cavity of the chicken. Carefully place the chicken onto the Cocorico roaster with the legs facing up.

Put the cocorico in the center of the oven and roast the chicken for fifteen minutes at 350°F. Every fifteen minutes rotate the cocorico by a quarter turn. Continue to roast the chicken until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer, about forty-five minutes to an hour. If using a meat thermometer, it should read 165°F for correct doneness. Remove from the oven and let rest for ten minutes.

While the chicken is roasting prepare the vegetables.

Bring to a boil about a gallon of water in a medium-sized pot. Add two tablespoons salt then blanch separately the turnips, parsnips and lastly the carrots. When the water returns to a boil from each addition of a vegetable they should cook no longer than a minute or so. Transfer each to a baking dish or tray to cool. It is not necessary to shock the vegetables in ice water. Reserve.

In a two-quart saucepan place the potatoes and enough water to cover them by two inches. Add one tablespoon of gray salt and bring the water to a boil. Cook the potatoes for three or four minutes. Strain then add to the other vegetables.

Toss the vegetables together with the remaining extra virgin olive oil and citrus-rosemary salt. When the chicken has roasted for thirty minutes, add the vegetables to the base of the cocorico. Continue the cookery as per the above method. When rotating the cocorico, the chicken can be basted with any residual juices in the baking dish.

Carefully remove the chicken from the cocorico and carve into serving portions. Transfer to a platter and serve with the roasted vegetables.