Engagement Chicken

(46)
Servings:
4

Rumor has it this easy-to-make roast chicken with ultra-crisp skin and subtle lemon flavor from Glamour magazine's "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know" cookbook will inspire your boyfriend to pop the question. Serve with Baked New Potatoes for a marriage-worthy meal.

Ingredients

  • 1 (4-pound) chicken

  • ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

  • 2 whole lemons, plus 1 sliced crosswise, for garnish

  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt

  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  • Fresh herbs, such as 4 sprigs rosemary, 4 sprigs sage, or 8 sprigs thyme

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack set in upper third.

  2. Remove giblets from chicken and rinse chicken inside and out with cold water. Set chicken, cavity-side down, in a colander to drain for 2 minutes. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place breast-side down in a medium roasting pan fitted with a rack; pour lemon juice all over chicken, inside and out. Season chicken, inside and out, with salt and pepper.

  3. Pierce whole lemons three times with the tines of a fork; place pierced lemons inside cavity. Using kitchen twine, truss chicken to enclose. Transfer roasting pan to oven and reduce temperature to 350 degrees; roast for 15 minutes.

  4. Remove roasting pan from oven and, using tongs or two wooden spoons, turn chicken breast-side up. Return chicken to oven and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 180 degrees and juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a fork, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

  5. Let chicken stand 15 minutes before carving. Transfer carved chicken to a serving platter and pour juices from roasting pan over chicken. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh herbs; serve.

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