The other day I needed a break from writing about cooking, so guess what I did?... No, I didn’t head to the kitchen, although that is a good guess, knowing me. I headed for the TV, intending to watch some mindless who-dun-it (old reruns of Quincy, the first CSI type show are my daytime fave) and somehow ended up watching The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten on
FoodTV. She was making the most delicious looking roasted chicken. It looked incredibly easy to prepare and in a manner I had never done before…cook a whole chicken at 475°F/240ºC - an extremely hot oven. I often start out cooking large birds at 400°F/200ºC for about 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 325-350°F/170-180ºC and always cook the bird breast side down except for the last 20 minutes or so. It keeps the white meat juicy and makes sure the dark meat gets cooked through. I turn the bird over for the last 20 minutes to crisp and golden the breast skin (more for presentation than anything (okay, I lied – I LOVE crispy chicken skin which is now a definite no- no. Can anybody say
South Beach Diet
and low fat?).
I obviously had to try it and am so glad I did. I added some shitake, small portobello and cremini mushrooms to the roasting pan during the last 20 minutes or so because I can never leave things alone and it worked out well. But the most amazing thing was that the 5 pound/ 2.3 kg chicken I made took only a little over one hour! Check it out.
Recipe
Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken
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