Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

Every girl needs to know how to roast a chicken. It's just a staple in life. I decided tonight, I was going to learn. I went straight to the expert, Ina Garten. She roasts a chicken for her husband every Friday night, I find that to be romantic. It's familiar, it's home. After work today, I raced to the store, picked the best looking bird I could find and gathered the few other simple ingredients I needed:

The Ingredients: Chicken, Lemon, Garlic, Thyme and Onion (and some bacon)

So here we go. I removed the insides, pat it dry and generously seasoned it with salt and pepper. I chopped up the lemon,garlic and onions then stuffed it with the thyme. I scattered the remainder of ingredients around the bird. Then, the best part...I layered bacon strips on top. As soon as I put this masterpiece into the oven, I could hear the sizzle of the bacon and just knew there was no way I could mess this up.

Delicious, I know.

I roasted the sucker for an hour, at 475. Then I removed the bacon, and roasted for another 30 minutes. I checked it, and the juices ran clear. Success. Next time, I'll be fancy and have the thermometer probe to achieve perfection. 

Now for the finale:

Crispy skin..mmm

So good. It was all I could do to wait the 10-15 minutes required rest time (I don't go against Ina's word). Immediately I cut myself a slice and it was so juicy, I couldn't get enough...I had a second piece. This recipe is just so fresh, so simple, and so CHICKEN. There was nothing in the way of the true flavor, everything was just enhanced. If I wasn't by myself, I would have had a big basket of hot biscuits and some mashed potatoes.  Heavenly.

Now, that I am an obvious expert of roasting chickens, I'll happily be experimenting with different flavors. Stay tuned. Below, I've attached the recipe I used. Only thing I did was add some onion. I didn't make the gravy, as I wasn't serving this for a dinner. I hope your first roast turns out as great as mine!

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

• 1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme
• 4 lemons
• 3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 pound sliced bacon
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stockand bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.

Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chicken platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.
And I leave you with one more to dream of: