Heaven on Earth

Heaven on Earth

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Perfect Roast Chicken

We love chicken at our house.  Roasted chicken that is perfectly seasoned, perfectly moist, perfectly crispy and perfectly delicious.  Most of all...it is perfectly easy to prepare.

Perfect Roast Chicken

1- 4 to 5 pound roasting chicken, trussed
1 head of garlic, top sliced off
1 lemon, halved
3 Tablespoons of softened butter
Salt and Pepper


Preheat your impeccably clean oven to 425 degrees F.  (You want a clean oven.  Any particles in your oven will smoke at this high temperature).

Wash the chicken and remove and discard any giblets or necks from the cavities.  Dry the chicken well with a paper towel.

Salt and Pepper the cavities and and stuff the lemon halves and the garlic head into the largest cavity.
Rub the outside of the chicken with the softened butter.  Salt and pepper the outside well.  Much of the seasoning will run off when the butter melts so you want to use the seasoning quite liberally.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan.  You could put a layer of onions, carrots, and celery down in the pan under the chicken to provide a bed for it.  You will not want to eat the vegetables after.  (I do not put a bed down as I don't think it adds all that much flavor).

Roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours, baste frequently with the pan juices.  Check the thigh temperature with a thermometer.  Poultry should be cooked to about 170 degrees F. for safety.  Remove the chicken from the oven and tent it loosely with foil while it rests and redistributes the interior juices into the meat before slicing.
Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.  It will continue to cook a bit as it rests so don't overcook it in the oven.
Slice and serve.
This is great left-over and it's a quick week night dinner.

7 comments:

  1. Oh, Bonnie! WHAT a beautiful chicken. You must be the best cook ever. Why can't you live by me and invite me over for dinner?
    I love your Royal Mail post, too. Those treats look tasty!
    The baby booties? Adorable! I've never made a baby boot. Must try.
    Have a great day! It's SNOWING here again. Late start to school.

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  2. I love roast chicken. We had roast chicken Saturday night, in fact! Yours look yummy!

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  3. Ooooh Yum. Yum oh Yummy Yum! I LOVE roasted chicken -- I think it's one of my very favorite meals. Yours looks fantastic!!!

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  4. Looks wonderful and I have a chicken in the freezer. That impeccable clean oven could be a problem. Any ideas on how to clean an oven impeccable?

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  5. That is a beautiful looking roast chicken. I love the colour of it. And a roast chicken is so well received by everyone in the family, isn't it. It's a great family meal.

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  6. A gorgeous chicken. I don't remember having ever roasted one. I'll have to give it a try.

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  7. Nothing better than roast chicken! I keep grabbing the already roasted ones at the grocery store, but I know that home roasted is so much better!

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