Tonight's dinner was a huge success for me. I had never made a whole roasted chicken. To be honest, it has always scared me a little. But it really wasn't hard at all. I will admit, when I first took this whole chicken out of the package, it really creeped me out. I can handle boneless, skinless chicken breasts and any other meat, but something about a whole raw chicken is a little icky to me. But I love roasted chicken so I quickly got past that and prepped my chicken. My other worry was how long to cook a whole chicken. I read so many different recipes and finally decided on how I would cook it. I gave my husband specific instructions on when to put the chicken in and at what temp when he got home and crossed my fingers that it would turn out.
When I got home I was pleasantly surprised. My house smelled great and the chicken looked so good! So I whipped up a couple easy sides and dinner was ready. I think I got 2 thumbs up from my husband.
On the menu tonight: garlic and lemon roasted chicken, wild rice, peas, and baked apples.
Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken
whole chicken (mine was 5lbs)
4-5 small garlic cloves, peeled, whole
3/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper, mixed together in a bowl (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 stick butter, cut into 1/4" slices (1/4 cup)
Begin by washing the chicken and patting it dry. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Rub a little of the salt and pepper on the inside cavity of the chicken. Place garlic cloves inside. Place a few slices of the butter inside the chicken as well. Rub remaining butter, salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken making sure to coat wings and legs, too. Pour lemon juice over the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees, 20 min per pound. Baste chicken with pan juices every so often. (I roasted mine for about 2 hrs-20 min longer than it really needed just to be sure
; P )
The baked apples I made as sort of an afterthought tonight. I had wanted to make a wild rice, apple, and pecan stuffing for the chicken but then remembered I used the last of my chopped pecans the other day. I wanted to do something with apples anyway so I made some simple baked apples.
Baked Apples (for 2)
1 large apple, cut into 1" chunks (I used Gala because that's what I had)
1/4 stick of butter, cut into 1/4" slices
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Spray ramekins with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet. Place apples in the bottom of each ramekin. In a bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the apples. Place 3 slices of butter on top of each dish. Bake at 375 for 15-20 min until apples are tender.
6 comments:
everything looks wonderful! i need to try those baked apples.
You can never go wrong with roasted chicken!
Yay for your first chicken! It looks delicious!
nice job on your first chicken! once you get passed the initial ickyness, it's a piece of cake! the apples look mouthwatering as well!!
Everything looks wonderful!! Great job.
I'm the same way with whole chickens! It's easy to cook with breasts because they don't actually look like they're from a chicken. But when you've got the whole chicken curled up in a cute pose, it's hard to throw it in the oven.
I've never roasted one so I think I'm gonna try your recipe soon. It looks delicious! As do the apples!
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