Roasted Chicken

I love roasted chicken! It's great comfort food for me. This afternoon I bought a whole chicken and was going to put it on the grill, beer can style. But my friend, Cary, called and invited us over for a drink (OK, I kind of invited myself.). The weather was great and we needed one last Hooray before spring break was over. So I decided to stick the chicken in the oven for an hour and go enjoy myself. This got me thinking, this is perfect when you have to go run the carpool after whatever practice/game your kids are involved in. Tonight we came back home to an amazing smelling house and a perfectly roasted chicken!

Whole Roasted Chicken
1 whole chicken
1 lemon - quartered
1 head of garlic - sliced in half crosswise
2 large sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme - minced
Kosher salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove any neck or innards from the chicken cavity. Wash the chicken and place it in a roasting pan. Cut the lemon into quarters and cut the entire head of garlic in half crosswise with the skin on. Season the inside of the chicken with lots of salt and pepper. Stuff the chicken with the lemon, garlic and rosemary. Season the outside of the chicken with the salt pepper and minced thyme. If you have any kitchen twine, tie the legs of the chicken together. If not, don't worry about it. If you have a convection oven, use that setting. Cook the chicken for 1 hour and 10 minutes. It should be golden brown with a crispy skin. Check the chicken for doneness by puncturing the skin between the thigh and the body. The juices should run clear. The thigh should easily pop out of joint when it's thoroughly cooked also.

Hope this helps you out some night. It's so much better than a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket!