Simple and Easy Oven Roast Chicken
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound whole roasting chicken
- 1 head garlic
- 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 fresh lemons
- 2 tablespoons softened butter or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepp
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475F.
- Wash chicken and pat dry with paper toweling. (It goes without saying, pull off any errant pieces of skin or feathers/quills, and remove giblets from the cavity if there are any.)
- Coarsely chop the bulb of garlic (don't bother to break apart the cloves or peel them).
- Remove rosemary eedles from 4 of the stems; reserve the rest for later.
- Chop lemons into quarters.
- Put the chopped garlic, chopped lemons and chopped rosemary into the chicken cavity and secure the legs with twine.
- Rub the skin of the chicken generously with soft butter or oil, and season with salt and pepper. Tuck chicken wings behind the back and place face up on a roasting rack.
- Roast the chicken for 15 minutes at 475F then reduce heat to 375 and cook until chicken reches 165F on a instant read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh (or until the juices run clear), about 60-75 minutes.
- Allow chicken to sit for 15 minutes before carving (this lets the juices settle into the meat and brings the temp up to right where you want it- about 170F.)
- Garnish with fresh rosemary stems before serving if desired.
Notes
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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