And yet another roasted chicken!

I buy cookbooks to read, like a novel. And to look at the beautiful pictures, hopefully get some ideas now and then. I don't always follow the recipes and while I have a really nice-sized cookbook collection, there are plenty that I just never use the recipes, I just liked to look through them. So I'm kind of surprised that I'm on my second recipe from Ina Garten's new book, Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?  and never really cooked all that much out of her other ones, as nice as they are.  And she's right, with this one, so far, the recipes have been very easy. Except when I dropped the Roast Chicken in the pan I was using to make the gravy. That was my fault. I used a skillet to make the gravy and it would have been smarter to follow directions and put the chicken on the platter first. But mess and screw ups are a given with my cooking.

Ina writes "good olive oil" in the list of ingredients, got me thinking, does she really think I'd use crappy oil? At least not intentionally :) Reminds me of my mom, who ALWAYS asks the waitress if the shrimp salad is fresh. Never asks that about shrimp scampi or shrimp parmigiana. That always brought up the conversation, would they actually sell it if it was bad? Have yet to hear a waitress say, "No, please don't order the shrimp salad, it's disgusting today." So anyway, I'm using a pretty good olive oil. At least I think it is.

But in the end, it looked pretty good and tasted even better. This Roast Chicken was easy to prepare, easy to cook, and really did come out very moist and extremely tasty! It was delicious. I'll be making it again for sure! I served it with Roasted carrots, that took too long, I ran out of time and ended up throwing them in the microwave with some orange juice, about a 1/2 tablespoon of butter and a drizzle of honey. Then I nuked them til they were soft. OK so one or two of five were shriveled, but they tasted great for a mistake :)

Jeffrey's Roast Chicken
Source: Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? by Ina Garten, 2010
adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook
Printable Recipe

1 (4-5 lb) roasting chicken
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 lemons, quartered
1 whole head of garlic, cut in half cross-wise
good olive oil
2 Spanish onions, peeling and thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Remove and discard the giblets. Rinse and pat the chicken dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Place two lemon quarters inside the cavity along with the garlic. Brush the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. (I also put a bit of tin foil on the tip of the leg if I see it's starting to burn!) Place the chicken in a small (11x14-inch) roasting pan. (If the pan is too big the onions will burn.) Place the reserved lemons and the sliced onions in a large bowl (I used a ziploc baggie!) and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1.2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the mixture around the chicken.

Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh. (Mine took much longer, and I used a thermometer - 165°!) Remove the chicken to a platter, leaving the lemons and onions in the pan. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce.

Place the pan on top of the stove over medium-high heat. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Add the stocks a and sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for a minute, until the sauce thickens. Add any juices that collect on the platter under the chicken and taste for seasoning. Carve the chicken onto the platter and spoon the onions and sauce over it. If the lemons are tender enough to eat, serve them, too. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot or warm.

Joining Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet for another Flashback Friday.

Flashing back to more Roast Chicken recipes from There's Always Thyme to Cook!

This one my son gave it that name, "Lemon Up the Butt Chicken" when he was younger and it stuck. It's exactly as he called it, and it's a very simple and delicious roast chicken! And it's not lemony, the lemons just keep the chicken moist without basting! Doesn't get any easier or any more delicious than this one. Simple. No kidding!

Lemon Up the Butt Chicken

Roast Chicken with Orange, Lemon and Ginger was very good, very flavorful and next time I make it, I'd like to try it with pomegranate juice as a sub. But we did like it as is, just have to watch that it doesn't burn, story of my cooking life!

Roast Chicken with Orange, Lemon and Ginger

If you like a sweet roast chicken then check out "Roast Chicken with Black Pepper and Maple Glaze" and you won't be disappointed. This one was super! Not overly sweet at all, with a hint of pepper and sweet maple flavor. We loved this one!

Roast Chickens with Black Pepper and Maple Glaze

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