Lemon Rosemary Chicken with Roasted Potatoes
Doesn’t this sound ambitious? I would make it for Valentine’s Day, if that was something we did around here 
As it is, it will make a wonderful dinner just because. Roasting a chicken (or a turkey) really isn’t all that complicated. They’re big, and they’re a little messy, but that’s what soap is for, right? The flavor on this one is great - light and delicate, and letting good roasted chicken flavor through. Since I went heavy on the onions for the side dish, I didn’t add any to the chicken, but you of course can use whatever seasoning you like. Watch for the leftovers to be chicken soup sometime soon.
Ingredients:
- whole chicken (3-6 pounds)
- Fresh rosemary (3 - 4 sprigs)
- 1 lemon (zested,but save all the parts, zest and the rest)
- 1/2 stick butter, softened
- honey (about 3 Tbs, more or less to your liking)
- salt and pepper
And that, my friends, is it. Wash your chicken and pat it dry. Take the leaves off of the stems of the rosemary, and give it a rough chop (nothing too fine here.) Mix rosemary, thyme, butter, lemon zest, salt, pepper and honey until it “looks right.” Taste it to make sure. Separate the skin from the breast and thigh of the chicken, and slather that baby inside the skin and outside with butter. The majority should go under the skin, for best flavor. Chop your lemon into quarters and place inside the cavity, along with another sprig or 2 of rosemary.
Roast covered at 350 until meat thermometer reads 140. Remove foil and allow to cook until meat thermometer (inserted in thigh) reads 180. (It normally takes about 20 minutes per pound.) Let stand 10 minutes before carving.
Roasted Potatoes:
Couldn’t be easier. Rinse some fingerling potatoes. Cut any that are really big in half. Combine with some onion soup mix and some olive oil. Put them on a baking sheet and throw them into the oven with your chicken for 40 minutes.