Roast Chicken over a bed of Lemon and Onions

I could live off of roasted chicken...and some weeks I do!  I'm always looking for new and different ways to raost a chicken and enjoy for days and days.  I found this recipe in one of my new and favorite cookbooks, "All About Roasting" by Molly Stevens.  It was a Christmas gift this year from my mom.  This recipe is so incredibly easy and makes a wonderful sauce to pour over the chicken.  Even better...you can keep the bones and make an awesome chicken stock for soup or to save. 

Here's another a similar recipe of mine - Easy Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

-1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs)

-1-2 Tbsp kosher salt

-1 Tbsp pepper

-2 tsp olive oil

- 1/2 lemon

- 1/2 white onion

-1/4 cup white wine

Optional Gadgets:

-meat thermometer

-kitchen twine

Molly is insistant that the trick to a juicy, tasty roast chicken is to rub the bird with salt 8-48 hours prior to roasting to let it soak into the meat.  Sounds like a lot of planning, right? Not really...just rub salt all over the bird when you get home from the grocery store, place it on a plate and loosely cover with saran wrap or press and seal.  Then you'll have a wonderfully seasoned bird to roast later that night or in the next few days!

To pre-season just rub 1-2 Tbsp. kosher salt and 1 Tbsp pepper all over the bird's skin and in the cavity.  (Make sure to remove the liver and gizzards from the inside if they are still there). 

When you are ready to roast the chicken preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Slice 1/2 white onion and 1/2 lemon and place in the bottom of a shallow roasting pan or cast iron skillet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on top of the bed of lemon and onions and rub with 2 tsp olive oil.  Using kitchen twine you can tie the legs together...this is optional.  Roast in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 The best way to know when a chicken is done is to use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh (not touching the bone) to make sure it registers 170 degrees.  I have this awesome leave-in thermometer from Taylor that gives me a constant read.  It also comes with a remote pager if I want to feel really cool and wear it on my belt....haven't tried that yet.  You can get this at target!

Once the temp reads 170 or it's been about an hour, pull out your chicken and put it on a cutting board.  YOU MUST LET YOUR CHICKEN REST for about 15 minutes before cutting into it.  This will let the juices absorb into the meat as it cools a bit.  If you want to make a pan sauce you can discard the lemons and pour a little white wine into the roasting pan with the onions and simmer for 2-3 minutes over med-high heat on the stove.  You can even add the drippings from the chicken after you carve it. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces...it will honestly be the best chicken you've ever had!

Not sure how to carve a chicken? Check out this great how-to video. One last things...keep your bones and carcass! This will make a very cheap and easy chicken stock.  Don't want to mess with it today or this week? Fine, just freeze it all in a large baggy or tupperware and do it in a couple weeks!  Stay-tuned for my easy chicken stock recipe coming up!