What’s for Dinner?

If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you know that my hubby is the chef and the family. When it’s my turn to cook, it’s leftovers or something really simple (cereal anyone?) (Please note, I am a pretty good baker, but should be our main source of eating!) Anyway, Amy from Park City Girl is looking for new things to cook for dinner, so i thought I’d share a recipe for roast chicken that EVEN I can do and not screw up!

Awesome Roast Chicken

One 2 ½ – 3 lb whole chicken

salt & freshly ground black pepper

¼ c fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme), finely chopped

olive oil

1 lemon, halved

4 bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1. Preheat the oven and a roasting tray to 425^o. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat it as dry with paper towels. Rub the cavity with salt. Slide your fingers under the skin over the breast the breast meat. Stuff some of the chopped herbs under this skin. Rub the bird with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Make slashes (3 or 4 for each side) in the legs and thighs (cut to the bone.) Rub herbs into the slash, over the bird and in the cavity. Place the lemon, bay and rosemary in the cavity. Tie the legs together.
2. Heat the roast pan (no rack) in the oven. Add some olive oil to the pan. My pan is non-stick so I only use a few tablespoons. Put the chicken, breast side down, in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the bird on one side and cook for another 5 minutes. Repeat until all sides are browned and the bird is breast side up. Cook for 1 hour or until done..
3. You can add parboiled small potatoes to the pan to roast in the juices.
4. Allow the bird to rest before serving.

We’ll roast 3 or 4 at a time, and then have lots of chicken to do other things with (pot pie is one of my favorites). And of course, my hubby makes a stock with the bones,  one of the secrets to his awesome cooking!

I don’t have a picture of roast chicken, but I think this little birdie from my Branch & Bird series will do: