It has been such a hectic few weeks around here!  One of my favorite tricks when things are extra busy is to roast a whole chicken on a Sunday. This way you have meat to use in meals all week.  It eliminates so much mess and time from the cooking process for the rest of the week!  I have listed the quantities needed per chicken, but feel free to scale up or down to suit the size of your group!

Here is my recipe for easy roast chicken:

Ingredients:

1. Whole chicken
2. 1 lemon
3. 2 tablespoons butter
4. 2 cloves garlic
5. Salt
6. Pepper

Directions:

•  Let butter soften.  Grate entire lemon peel and mince garlic.  Once the butter is softened, cut in the lemon zest and garlic until well mixed.
•  Wash chicken and pat dry.  Loosen skin and work butter under skin.  The butter should be as evenly distributed as possible (but don’t sweat it if its not perfect, all that lovely butter will melt and coat the skin).
•  Once the butter is under the skin, I usually rub my still buttery fingers on the outside of the skin just to give it a good base.  Rub salt and pepper over the outside of the bird.
•  Cut lemon and squeeze out most of the juice, set aside.  Insert lemon halves into chicken cavity.
•  Set oven to 425 and cook (general rule of thumb: 1 hour per pound).  Baste chicken will reserved lemon juice and pan drippings.
•  Let rest for 20 minutes when done cooked.  Carve, enjoy.

Any leftovers can be used throughout the week for sandwiches, pasta dishes or my famous chicken pot pie!

Very truly,

Mrs. K