Heida’s Roast Chicken

  • 7-9 lb whole chicken

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 1/2 lemon

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 tsp pepper

  • 1/2 tsp rosemary

  • 1/4 tsp thyme

  • 1/4 tsp sage

  • 1/2 cup water or light beer

  • large garlic clove

Ingredients:

METHOD:

  1. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels

  2. Put olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl, mix and then pour/rub all over chicken

  3. Mix salt, pepper and herbs in a small bowl and then rub over chicken

  4. Slice the garlic clove in half and place in the cavity of the chicken. If you used a fresh lemon, place the squeezed half also in the cavity

  5. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a large roasting pan and add the water/beer (or another liquid) in the pan. Cover and place in a preheated oven at 375F.

  6. Cook for an hour, remove the lid and continue roasting until a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165F. This takes about 30 minutes. If you want to crisp up the skin, increase the oven temperature to 450F for the last 10 minutes, but watch carefully for the skin burning.

  7. Remove roasting pan from the oven and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes.

  8. There should be enough juices in the pan to make a gravy. Pour drippings into a small saucepan, bring to a boil and add a cornstarch water slurry once boiling (stirring constantly) until the desired consistency is reached.

We love cooking a large roasting chicken just for the two of us, as we have leftovers to use throughout the week. Some of our favourite ways to use the leftover chicken is in hot chicken sandwiches, chicken quesadillas, chicken alfredo pasta, chicken curry, chicken salad and of course, we use the bones at the end of it all to make chicken soup.