Karen's Lemon Chicken
Source of Recipe
Karen Tressler
Recipe Introduction
Lemon Chicken the way I really do it... a modified Gluten Free Girl recipe
List of Ingredients
One whole roasting chicken
One whole lemon
Zest from two lemons
Spices (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, etc.... whatever you like on chicken)
One clove garlic, crushed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Potatoes and onions and carrots or any other root vegetable
Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place lemon in sauce pan of water and bring to a boil for five minutes.
While lemon is boiling, wash and clean out your bird. Pat dry.
Use olive oil to cover every inch of the bird. This is important because the olive oil seals in the juices which seals the moisture inside.
Place bird in roasting pan.
Wash hands. Yes, I mean YOU!!!
Decide what spices you want on your bird. I use rosemary and a wee bit of garlic most often, along with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Sometimes when the music hits, I use parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme....and lemon zest. If it's good with chicken, it's a go. Use your imagination. If you don't have lemon zest, you'll still be fine. This is a very forgiving recipe.
Sprinkle your spices & zest, and salt and pepper on your freshly oiled bird.
Pull the boiling lemon from the water using tongs and stuff it in the bird. CAUTION: Use tongs or the odds of burning your fingers goes up exponentially! Do not puncture your lemon.
If you touched your oiled bird to get the lemon inside, clean your hands...yes, again!!!
If you happen to have fresh rosemary growing outside, dip a couple of 4" pieces of it in the boiling water to bring up the oils and then stuff those in with the lemon. I do have rosemary in my back yard attempting to take over the neighborhood. If you do not, no worries. Your bird will be delicious anyway.
Place your bird in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
If you want to, chop up potatos and carrots and onion during this time. Any other root veggies will do as will squash or brocolli or whatever.
When the timer goes off after 30 minutes, place veggies around your bird and use the turkey baster to coat them with the drippings from your bird. Keep in mind, some take longer or shorter to cook. I usually put the potatos/onions/carrots in after 30 minutes and then wait and add the brocolli and/or squash 30 minutes later as it only takes about 30 minutes to cook. If you add veggies later, be sure to baste them with the juices.
Place roasting pan with chicken and veggies in the oven and bake at 400 for one hour. If you are adding the brocolli and squash toward the end, add 15 minutes to the time to make up for all the opening and closing of the oven door and escaping heat.
*If this is confusing, remember you want to cook this bird for an hour and a half total at 400 degrees if you are only adding one round of veggies. If you are adding a second (late) round of veggies, add ten or fifteen minutes to the time for a total time of one and 3/4 hours cooking.
Do not disturb. Your chicken will begin smelling heavenly....you will peek (I said not to!) and you will decide it is done. It will be golden and you will decide to take it out because, it must be done. You will begin to worry that it is overcooking. DO NOT REMOVE. Exercise your willpower. It will be worth it. Let it stay in the oven the full hour without disturbing it. It will be a gorgeous dark golden color when you remove it and you will think it is over done.
It is not overdone. It will be perfect.
Dish up the veggies, adding salt and pepper as needed unless you did prior to placing in the pan. Let the bird set. Oh yeah....just keep your nit pickin' fingers off it. It needs to rest to settle the juices. I'm tellin ya, just let that bird set without pickin at it. Ten minutes. You heard me!!! Count 'em...ten!
Not easy cuz it is beautiful and oh my, oh my, it is smelling so good and well, who can not pick at a roasted chicken fresh from the oven? But leave it be.
When the ten minutes are up, start carving your bird. Oh, and take that wasted lemon out of there!
Serve with the veggies if you cooked them that way or with rice and whatever else. Delicious.
The secret is that the oil seals the skin so the juices stay in and steam the bird at that high temperature. The lemon is already hot when you put it inside so it steams the bird from inside and those delicious juices are just steaming the bird. This is a great easy peasy guaranteed to impress dinner. Make a salad and dessert ahead and put your bird in and the veggies and let the guests come and chat them up while it finishes.
I like it so much I cook two at a time so I can have leftovers to freeze for soups and enchiladas and salads and such....
Ok, now for the original recipe. You will notice I simplified because, well, I couldn't tell the difference on parboiling the potatos and such and yes, I have a mortar and pestle but seriously, am I using it every day? Not so much! It just made it so much more complex it seemed and it's still delicious this way. I'm all about easy and delicious.
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