Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Ever just get a hankering for mom's roast chicken? Did your mom never serve roast chicken? Sucks for you, because it's pretty much the best Sunday night meal ever. The weather is starting turn towards spring, but it's still chilly out there and the thought of roasted chicken and veggies filling the house with deliciousness was too much for me to say no to. So out to the suburbs and Wegman's for a roaster chicken and root vegetables for Sunday night dinner. 

I lifted this recipe from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) on the Food Network site. It's simple as can be, and comes out with golden brown crispy skin and juicy meat inside. As long as you are not shy about sticking your hand into a raw chicken (wash your hands well) this is a really easy meal to make that will impress your significant other, and anyone else that happens to be over for dinner. The best part is it only costs about $10 to make - $5 for the chicken, plus a few veggies, thyme & lemons. Enjoy! 

Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
• 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
• Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

-T.Kaso