Hello fellow foodies! The other day, I made a trip to my local grocery store and was pleased to find whole chickens for $.99 per pound. I love deals, so I bought two. When I first got married, I spent a lot of money of meat because I didn’t know how to buy it. Well here is a tip folks: buy what’s on sale and make your meals around that.

So, what happened to my little chickens? Well, one is still in the freezer, and the other met her (or his) fate last night. But don’t be sad, for this chickens fate was a mix of lemon, garlic and rosemary goodness.

Where did I get my inspiration? Well, my favorite celebrity chef of course! Ina Garten (host of Barefoot Contessa) is my go-to chef for great recipes and ideas. Her food is simple, yet delicious and easy to recreate. For this chicken, I used her “Perfect Roast Chicken” recipe found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html

Her recipe calls for a 5-6 pound chicken and mine was only 3.5. Also, I did not have thyme, carrots or fennel. No worries, everything can be substituted with ease.

P.S. before attempting to roast a whole chicken, make sure you have an actual roasting pan. A while back, I bought a whole chicken and was so excited to roast it, only to realize that I didn’t have the appropriate pan. Opps. So yeah, just a little heads up.

Here is my version of this great recipe:

*Preheat oven to 425F.

1. I used small/medium sized red potatoes instead of the fennel/carrots. I kept the skin on, cut them into fours and tossed with a whole onion (cut into eight wedges), olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt and peper.

2. I washed the chicken and patted it dry (also pull out that little pouch that is stuffed inside-I threw mine out).

3. Rub Salt and Pepper generously inside of the chicken.

4. Get your stuffing ingredients ready: one lemon cut in half (or smaller wedges if you want), a whole head of garlic (do not peel) cut into two, a sprig of fresh rosemary. Stuff inside chicken.

5. Melt some butter (about 1/4 of a stick) and brush the outside of the chicken with it. Rub the outside with salt and pepper (if you have kitchen string, tie the legs together. I never do because I never remember to buy kitchen string).

6. Place potatoes in a roasting pan and place chicken on top. Place into oven and prepare to have your house filled with the delicious smell of this chicken (I started to be teased with the aroma of melted butter, fresh garlic and bright lemon after 4 minutes in the oven. seriously.)

SO how long until you get to enjoy this goodness? I kept mine in the oven for an hour and then took it out, transfered to a dish and covered with aluminum foil for another 20 minutes. Why? Because cutting this right away will allow the juices to escape, leaving you with a dry chicken. Also, I transfered the potatoes to a serving dish right away because I didn’t want them to get too soggy from the run off chicken juice.

If you are roasting a larger chicken (5-6 pounds), like Ina Garten, keep it in the over for another 25 minutes. Basically, once the juices run clear, you are good to go!

These potatoes are so full of flavor. The onions slowly caramelized and add a hint of sweetness to the potatoes that is absolutely divine. Now, isn’t that a beautiful bird? This is a juicy, delicious and husband pleasing chicken. Isn’t that a great combination?