Shamrocks and Shenanigans: Chipotle Lime Roasted Chicken

Yesterday I took a whole chicken out for dinner. It was a oops moment later when I remembered that we would probably eat out as a team after our Champion Baseball game. (We won BTW and I am so proud of my son and his team.) But now I have this whole chicken AND it's Taco Tuesday. I've already covered a roasted whole chicken for tacos. Oh well. This time I will shake it up a bit. This chicken is great any day of the week. You don't have to use it just for tacos. I am making my weekly salsa. And I am excited for the leftovers! Yes I said that nasty word...leftovers. There will be chicken salad sandwiches and chicken quesadillas!

Chipotle Lime Roasted Chicken
1 whole chicken
Fireman's seasoning
2 limes
2 TB chipotle adobo sauce
1/2 cube butter
Zest of one lime
2 TB Cilantro
One clove of garlic minced
Olive oil

First of all I am using my Roaster. But this would be just as good roasted in the oven or tossed in the crockpot. One note; you will not get a brown crunchy skin when using your crockpot.

Clean your chicken. Remove the neck and giblets. You could save them in the freezer for soup. Dry your chicken with paper towels and place on a plate. Wash your hands after touching raw chicken.

In a bowl combine the butter, chipotle adobo sauce, lime zest, and garlic. Mix well.
Chipotles in Adobo Sauce is a bit of an obsession for me right now. One can saves for weeks in the fridge. The sauce can be used in hundreds of recipes and the peppers chopped up in just about anything!

Put the leftover chipotles in a contain. They store for weeks. You can also freeze then in ice cube trays. Mine dont make it to the the freezer.

With your fingers. Gently pry the skin away from the flesh. You are doing this so you can season under the skin. I season under the skin and on the skin. This provides that the meat is flavorful and moist. I like to blot the flesh with a paper towel

Now take the butter and stuff it under the skin on the flesh. Spread it out but rubbing the outside of the bird.

Drizzle olive oil on the outside of the bird. Sprinkle Fireman's Seasoning on the outside of the bird.

As you can see, I make my seasoning up in a big batch and use it often!
Take the limes and cut them in quarters and stuff in the cavity.

You could tress the bird. It's up to you. We are going to pick the bird for all the meat rather than have it as a main dish so you could skip tressing the bird

Place in Roaster or oven. 350 degrees for about an hour. This is when I use my handy instant read thermometer to check for donesness. I don't want it over cooked but I also don't want to poison my family