roast chicken

Oh my goodness!!!

The best roast chicken ever, and I just threw it in the oven!   What did I do?  What ingredients and measures? Can I do this again?

And worse yet, I didn't take a picture of the beautiful, golden brown bird.  I ate a large piece of the juicy, white meat and then went to grab the camera.

Juicy - flavorful - just good...really good...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit

Remove parts inside the bird (and lay them on the roasting tray - to be used in making chicken stock tomorrow)
Rinse the bird and pat it dry with paper towels.
Place on foil lined baking tray.

Chicken breast side up
Tuck the wings under the bird
Tie the two legs together close to the body (after stuffing as listed below)

About 10 cloves peeled garlic - some placed under skin - some placed inside cavity of bird
One large lemon, washed and sliced into thirds - place inside cavity of chicken
Drizzle bird well with olive oil (I probably used 2 to 4 tablespoons)
Corse grain Kosher Salt - I used about 1 teaspoon on the inside of the bird and about 1 to 2 teaspoons on the outside (actually I just liberally sprinkled it over the outside)
Penzey's ground black pepper - about 1 teaspoon sprinkled over all
Penzey's Herb de Provance - 1 heaping teaspoon sprinkled partly in cavity and partly on outside of chicken  (here's another wonderful use for Herb de Provance)

Place meat thermometer in chicken.  I put the probe in the chicken thigh first, but it seemed to reach 170 degrees too quickly.  I moved the probe and placed it deep inside the white meat breast.  When the thermometer reached 170 degrees, I removed the chicken from the oven, and covered well with 2 pieces of aluminum foil.  Total roasting time was between 1 and 1 1/2 hours.

I let the roasted chicken rest about 30 minutes.

When I went to taste the chicken, the leg bones easily twisted out (...ready for the stock pot tomorrow).

Peel the skin back and cut a juicy slice of the white meat......ahhhh......delicious

And if you want delicious +1, dip the white breast meat in the juices and then glaze over the salt/herbs on the outside of the skin.

Enjoy.  I did.