Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary
I think heaven will have smells alternating between freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and roasted chicken and potatoes with herbs and bacon strips over the top. Like this:
Gorgeous. And those potatoes? They get tossed around in all the chicken and bacon drippings, put in a bowl and topped with crumbled bacon. This was one of those meals that attacked all of my senses (in a good way) at once and left me a very, very happy girl. As far as I know, the rest of the family liked it, too, but I was much too distracted to notice.
Another goodie from Jamie Oliver. Speaking of, has anyone else been watching his
Food Revolution? It’s brilliant. I’m so glad that someone with as much celebrity power as Jamie is doing this through a mainstream network. The ignorance of basic food knowledge (elementary school kids not knowing what a potato or a tomato was) and the ridiculous USDA regulations (french fries count as vegetables?) just blow my mind.
I could rant on and on about this topic, but I’ll spare you. Just try out this chicken. If for no other reason than to make your home smell like heaven for a few hours.
Ingredients
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3-4 pound chicken
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Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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4½ pounds potatoes, peeled
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1 large lemon
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1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
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A handful of fresh thyme
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Avocado oil
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A handful of fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
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8 strips of uncooked bacon
Instructions
- Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it for lunch or dinner. (This ensures the meat is seasoned well!)
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
- Cut the potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with the whole lemon and the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic.
- Toss the potatoes into the roasting pan while still hot so their outsides get a little beat up - this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast. Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil.
- While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and the thyme into the cavity, then put the chicken into the roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes or until cooked through.
- Remove the chicken to a plate. Toss the potatoes around in the drippings and add the rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the center of the potatoes and put the chicken back in.
- If using the bacon, lay the slices over the chicken breast and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.) A meat thermometer should read about 170 degrees.
- Remove the bacon from the chicken and crumble it up over the potatoes. Then remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze all the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up and smear it all over the chicken, discard the lemon and rosemary and carve the chicken at the table.
- Goes nicely with a green salad. Serves 4 with leftovers.
Notes
Nat's Notes
- I don't have a roasting pan, but used my 9x13 pyrex baking dish. It's a bit snug, but it works.
- I didn't smear the garlic over the chicken because we don't eat the skin, so I put it in a small bowl and used it as a condiment at the table.
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Roasting a chicken looks lovely but it kind of scares me in the way that is looks too complicated. Plus my husband doesn't eat meat so it would just be me by myself eating a whole chicken!
But your recipe looks absolutely delicious :)
Jamie makes my world spin. I love him. Too bad he's married with some seriously adorable children.
Roasted chicken definitely smells like home to me. Looks delicious.
'bacon drippings'–music to my ears. :)
You have such a beautiful blog and your photo's are amazing!!! = )
McKell – The hardest part about roasting a chicken is getting over the squeamish-ness of handling a whole, raw bird. The rest is easy. Once you've done it once, you'll think, "um.. that was it?" Not having your hubs to help you eat it isn't such a bad thing. Lots of leftovers for lunches and such :) Psh, just make it for LUNCH! haha.
I just had to come here and say thank you for this recipe! I printed it out several months ago and tonight I finally got around to making it. I've made roast chicken in the past with so-so results, but this was fabulous! Thank you!
Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I just discovered your blog this morning thanks to TastyKitchen!! I was looking at all of your amazing recipes and decided to make this one tonight! I just got done cleaning up my kitchen… this was DELICIOUS! I went to get the ingredients after work, popped it in the oven and bam! An hour and a half later, a wonderful dinner was ready! THANK YOU!!! I will be a regular visitor and can't wait to try more of your recipes :)
Hi Natalie!
Love your site and have made many of your recipes–always great flavors! I’m planning to make this chicken but am not clear on one thing. Do you put the potatoes in the roasting pan and roast with the chicken the entire time or just add them during the last 45min.? Thanks! Kate
Simply Awesome!!!!
Glad you liked it!