Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken
This was part of a very
fallish Saturday night dinner. What you don't see is
the roasted squash.
In the 20 years that Peg and I have been married,
we've never roasted a chicken. We've done turkeys
countless times, but not chickens. Why? Don't know.
99% of our chicken comes in the form of
boneless-skinless breasts...it's quick, it's easy,
it's versatile. Well, things have changed.
Some days it's like Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium
around our house - I never know what is going to
turn up. Friday night I helped put away groceries
and came across a whole chicken.
Me: "A whole chicken?!"
Peg: "Yeah, I think we need to roast a chicken to go
along with that squash."
Me: "Are you going to make Beer Can Chicken?"
Peg: "I would but we don't have any gluten-free beer
in cans".
Now I'm sure we could've worked out the logistics of
making a gluten-free beer can chicken if we put our
minds to it, but we had a zillion other things to do
around the house on Saturday. As I was recovering
from my yard raking & mowing induced myocardial
infarction, I decided to consult one of my friends about a
roasted chicken recipe. It didn't take long before
he suggested a recipe from Tyler Florence of
Food Network fame.
I decided on Tyler's recipe because 1) there is only
a handful of ingredients 2) there is only a handful
of steps 3) it was going to taste great! I don't like
following recipes in the first place, and it's even
worse when it's long and drawn out...and often times
organized weirdly...and often times makes me swear at
it [maybe I'm the one that's organized weirdly, but
that's whole 'nother post...].
Some people like gourmet-type foods with an
ingredient list as long as your arm and a set of
directions that is as thick as War and Peace. I have neither
the patience nor the time for that! I'm a simple
guy, that likes simple, but great tasting
gluten-free food. Tyler's recipe is a perfect
example of how you can take simple ingredients and
make amazing food! Yes, "the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts".
This recipe is a keeper. In our house we call it
"Company Food" [food we'd serve to guests].
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (organic, free-range if you like)
1 lemon, quartered
1 head of garlic, halved
1/4 bunch of fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley,
roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 pounds of red potatoes (all about the same
size)
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Tyler's recipe [and many others] calls for rinsing
the chicken, however the USDA suggests that rinsing
can spread bacteria thus
increasing cross contamination risks. When cooked
properly (internal temp >165) any bacteria on
the chicken will be destroyed.
Season the cavity with salt & pepper - after
removing the bag of "goodies" found inside.
Stuff the herbs, garlic & lemon inside the
cavity.
Tie the legs together and place into roasting pan. I
used our dutch oven, it was a snug fit so I didn't
tie the legs.
Season outside liberally with salt & pepper and
drizzle the olive oil over the entire chicken.
Toss in the potatoes around the chicken.
Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remember to baste the
chicken with the drippings every 20 minutes.
Check internal temp by inserting an instant read
thermometer into thickest part of of thigh - it
should read 165 degrees.
Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes before
carving.
Enjoy!
Note: We saved the pan drippings, added the carcass
(and the head of garlic) back to the dutch oven and
covered it with tap water. Let this come to a boil
for 10-15 minutes and strained the liquid gold into a
large bowl or measuring cup. After cooling, place in
fridge. The fat will rise to the top to be skimmed
off later. This will be the base for some killer
chicken soup!
Until the next good eats...
Al