Saturday, October 16, 2010

Lemon Roasted Chicken


In my apology last week for dwelling on the sweets, I mentioned lemon roasted chicken. And then, couldn't stop thinking about it. Lemony, garlicy, with some delicious potato chunks thrown in for good measure. Yum!

This is one of those pretty impressive dinners that truly doesn't take much effort. Yes, I basted and turned the chicken every 20 minutes, but other than that it just hung out in the oven and did its thing allowing me to study for my first-ever law final. So it worked out well for both of us. Though in the end the chicken was eaten and I had to sit for 4 hours typing as fast as I could about jurisprudence... so maybe "well" is an overstatement.

Admittedly, the only part of the chicken that had the lemon flavor was the breast, but all of the meat was juicy and full of flavor. And the potatoes! I'm going to sneak to the fridge and get some now, even though it's 7am. Is that weird?

Lemon Roasted Chicken

1 4 lb whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
1/2 head of garlic
salt & pepper
handful of thyme

3 handfuls of new potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Make sure to remove the giblets package from the chicken.
Rinse it with cool water inside and out; pat dry with paper towels.

2. Shove the lemon halves, garlic, and thyme inside the bird's cavity. Generously salt & pepper the cavity.

3. Place the bird in your pan breast side up and secure the legs with twine (or one of those special rubber bands made just for this purpose) and spread the potatoes around the pan.

4. Drizzle olive oil over the bird and potatoes and
sprinkle the whole thing with salt & pepper.

5. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, rotating the pan a quarter turn and basting every 20 minutes. When the chicken is done, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the bird will read 165 F. Let sit for 10 minutes so the juices settle and serve.

3 comments:

  1. looks great! i'm hosting a dinner party this Sunday and definitely added roasted chicken to the menu. oh and btw nothing weird about potatoes at 7am - just think home fries! Good luck with the final!

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  2. thanks guys!
    Lady T: great point about home fries! do you think the same logic works with early morning potato chips? ...

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