Roast Chicken

Roasting a chicken is so easy! You just rub it all over with salt and pepper and stuff it with some stuff, and stick it in the oven for a while. Like duh. And this recipe turned out really yummy last night with some rice and salad and a Parallele 45 Cote du Rhone.

Ingredients
1 lemon [I used a lime]
1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger [I basically doubled this, because Sean cut up a whole thing of ginger]
10 to 12 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1 3-to-4 pound whole chicken
Salt, preferably Hawaiian [seriously, enough with the salt snobbery]
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Wash lemon and ginger well, dry, and cut into slices.

Remove the giblet pack and neck from the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Flip the wings back and tuck under the body.

Season the inside cavity with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the lemon, ginger, and garlic. Fold the skin over to close the opening, and then tie the legs together with a piece of kitchen twine. Put the chicken into a shallow baking dish. Coat the skin all over with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 375°F. Roast for an additional 60-65 minutes, until the juices run clear. Try not to open the oven door too much while the chicken is cooking, particularly during the first 15 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before you carve it. Strain the pan juices, remove the fat, and serve with the chicken.

Roasting at 450 first was key. Don't forget to run the fan over your stove to prevent a smoky house!

The chicken was moist and tender and the breast basically fell off the bone once I cut the ribs away. The skin was crispy and delicious! Am on a mission now to roast a chicken once a week for the next 8 weeks to get better at cutting it up, but honestly, this way, it practically cuts itself up!