Chicken Tales

On Monday, I made the best roast chicken of my life, and realized I have no idea how those pop out thermometers work or how to tell if a chicken is done. I should probably invest in a meat thermometer, that at least I could operate.

The skin was crispy perfection, the meat was juicy and tender, and the gravy was lemony and delicious. However I took the chicken out like 30 minutes before it was done, because I temporarily lost my mind, and also because I cannot tell when the little white thing has popped. So the end result had some deep gashes in it from checking to see if the meat looked raw, but I make shift patched them with onions, and the chicken turned out really well. I served them with the potato hash I made last week (that I had ridiculously paired with tuna) and spicy sauteed green beans. My inspiration for this chicken was The Barefoot Contessa's "Engagement Chicken" I was watching the show at the gym, earlier in the day and she informed me that if you roast lemon pieces in the bottom of the pan they become edible, rind and all. Now, after tasting them, I have to disagree that you would want to eat them, particularly the rind, however they made the drippings so delicious that I will definitely be putting them in again.

Roast Chicken:
1 whole chicken
3 cloves of garlic
1 large yellow onion
2 lemons
Fresh Thyme
Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
1-2 cups Chicken Stock

Cut the lemons into quarters, reserve half a lemon for inside the chicken and cut the other half into smaller pieces (not to small) and put in the bottom of a roasting pan. Give onion a rough chop and save a couple of pieces for in the chicken and toss the rest in the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper the onions. Wash the chicken and remove innards. Pat dry. Stuff chicken with lemon, thyme (a good amount), and onion. Salt and Pepper the chicken, inside and out. Pour some olive oil on the skin. Roast the chicken at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes, when the onions look like they have begun to burn pour some stock in the pan. After another 20 minutes baste the chicken with additional stock and lower heat to 350. Continue cooking, basting as necessary and cover with tinfoil if the skin starts to darken too much. Let rest 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve with the drippings from the pan (which are lemony delicious) and onions and if you are brave enough to try it, the cooked lemon.

Happy Eating!