Lemon Roasted Chicken

Many of my friends say they have trouble finding new recipes for cooking chicken, but there are many various ways you can cook chicken. I like to buy chicken whole and bake it in the oven. This best way to cook any roasting chicken in the oven is to marinate the chicken in a marinade for a couple of days before you plan to cook the chicken. This not only enhances the taste, but a salt marinade will tenderize the meat.

I took a recipe from Martha Stewart for a lemon chicken and made a few changes to make this recipe a little more flavor enhanced.

This Lemon Roasted Chicken recipe makes great sandwiches the next days. You can also substitute dried herbs for fresh if fresh is not available.

Lemon Roasted Chicken
* Marinate the chicken for two days for the best flavor and texture.

1/3 cup kosher salt (this is coarse salt)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 five-pound roasting chicken
Zest of 2 lemons
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried basil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped roughly fresh flat-leaf parsley
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 fresh, or dried bay leaves
4 lemons, quartered lengthwise, plus 3 lemons halved (optional)

In a small bowl, combine kosher salt and lemon juice. Loosen the skin of the chicken from the flesh. Rub mixture under the skin and in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in a large bowl, cover and chill at least 48 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse all of the salt off the chicken with cold water; pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and zest, dried basil, salt and pepper to taste, parsley, garlic and softened butter. Rub two-thirds of the mixture under the chicken's skin; rub the rest on the outside. Salt the cavity of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bay leaves and the quartered lemons.

Place chicken in a large roasting pan, breast-side up. Tuck the tips of the wings under the bottom of the bird. Transfer pan to oven. After 40 minutes, baste. If using lemon halves, place in pan, cut side down. Cover chicken with a 14-by-18-inch piece of aluminum foil. Reduce heat to 375 degrees.

Cook, basting occasionally, until the skin is crisp and golden, 40 to 45 minutes more. The juices should run clear when the chicken is pierced; an instant-read thermometer should register 170 degrees in the deepest part of the thigh when done. Serve warm or at room temperature.