Roasted Chicken

I forgot to take a picture of the roasted chicken before we started carving. Not to make excuses, but I'm going to, kind of. We were starving and the the roasted chicken looked and smelled delicious. So needless to say, the roasted chicken held up it's end of the bargain by tasting delicious. My sister and I held up our end of the bargain by stuffing our faces!

Now I bet your thinking, where did she get that bird, I want one!?

My dear friend Colleen and her husband Les (and clan of six) gave me this (dead, phew) bird after a fun filled weekend at their place in Indiana. The bird was frozen in a block of ice and took three days to thaw. I could have starved before it thawed, but I didn't because they gave me other yum yum goodies for the ride home. Let's just say I ate a bag of Dove chocolates minus four, in the first two hours of driving. I won't admit to anything more, but I wish the scale read less. So their frozen gift became my birthday dinner, and boy was it tasty!

Prepping the bird was a piece of cake! I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go to the market, so I opened the refrigerator door for the 100th time that day and opted to use the ingredients I had on hand. I'm so smart and resourceful. After I dressed the chicken I realized I needed a side dish, you know, the perfect shoes to go with the dressed bird. I decided to go with fresh from the field sweet corn.

Tie on your apron and start shucking. Shuck corn and place in a 9 x 13" plan with 1-2" of water, cover with foil. I added the corn during the last half hour of roasting the chicken. Heaven.

Roasted Chicken
1 thawed fresh chicken from a dear friend (not certain of the weight of this chicken. 10lbs?)
1 lemon, sliced
salt/pepper/seasoning
3 sprigs of parsley
2 medium size leaves of basil
1 small sprig of Greek oregano
5 carrots, washed and cut into 2" chunks
5-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and whole
3 stalks of celery, washed and cut into 2" chunks
8 red new potatoes, halved
1-2 T butter, melted or at least soft


Preheat oven to 350F bake or 300 convection.

Rinse the inside and out, remove any pinfeathers and pat dry. Place chicken in a baking dish or roasting pan. Salt (1/4 tsp) and pepper (3-4 cranks) the cavity. Place 3 cloves of whole in the cavity. Slice one lemon and squeeze the juice into the cavity and then stuff the lemon quarters into the cavity, along with 1 sprig of parsley.

Wash and prepare all the vegetables. Arrange vegetable around bird in roasting pan. Brush the outside of the chicken with melted butter, salt and pepper taste. I also generously seasoned the outside of the chicken with a lemon pepper too. Sprinkle chopped herbs on top of chicken and/or under skin. It's now ready for the oven.

I cooked this chicken for 1 hr at 300 F convection, reduced the heat to 250F convection and cooked for 1 hr, then 30 minutes at 300F convection. I had to turn the heat down because I had to run an errand and did not want the chicken to overcook while I was away. When done, the juices should run clear and the minimum internal temperature should be 165F for 15 seconds. Cover the chicken with foil and let rest for 15 - 20 minutes after removing from the oven and before carving.

Thanks Les, Colleen and family! XXOO