Engagement Roast Chicken

 Engagement Roast Chicken
from Ina Garten (slightly adapted)


1 (4 to 5 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 whole head garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
Good olive oil
2 Spanish onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove and discard the chicken giblets. Pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Cut the lemons in quarters, place 2 quarters in the chicken along with the garlic and reserve the rest of the lemons. Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the chicken in a small (11 by 14-inch) roasting pan. (If the pan is too large, the onions will burn.) Place the reserved lemons and the sliced onions in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the mixture around the chicken in the pan.

Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and a thigh. Remove the chicken to a platter, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce, leaving the lemons and onions in the pan.

Place the pan on top of the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits. Add the stock and sprinkle on the flour, stirring constantly for a minute, until the sauce thickens. Add any juices that collect under the chicken. Carve the chicken onto a platter and serve with the lemons, onions, and warm sauce.

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{cooks note}

I have been buying these whole fryer chickens at Costco lately because they are .79 a pound.  They do take a little more effort to prep for cooking, but SO worth it.  The flavor is amazing.  I try and cook a couple at a time so I can just pick off all the meat at once and either use it that week or freeze it for later.  I got this particular recipe from Ina Garten.  It's wonderful.  If you want to roast chicken for normal everyday recipes like Hawaiian haystacks, enchiladas, etc. then just lightly coat with olive oil and salt and pepper the inside and out.  I lined the bottom of my pan with parchment paper because my chicken started to stick to the bottom of my pan.  It worked like a charm.  Also, you may want to cut back on the salt. 

I used my roast pan.  I didn't have one of these bad boys until my husband got a free one at work 4 years ago.  I really like it. 

 Place the chicken in the roast pan.

 Season the inside with salt...

 and pepper.

 Add cut up lemons.  Sorry for the fuzzy pictures that follow.  My camera was acting up.

 Stuff in your garlic.

 Tie the legs together.  I used twine I used for wrapping packages because I didn't have any baker's twine.  It worked just the same.

 Tuck the wings under...

 like so.

 Rub olive oil all over.

 Season the top with salt and pepper.

 Mix the remainder of your cut up lemons with sliced onions, olive oil and salt and pepper.

 Add them to the pan and bake.

 Voila!

A tender juicy chicken ready to be devoured.  I served mine with fingerling potatoes and roasted vegetables.