Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

My perfectionist tendencies sometimes get the best of me, and it helps to have people in my life who encourage me to 'just let go.' Often, it is when I stop trying so hard that it all comes together just right. :-)

For our Christmas dinner this year, I was planning to prepare a couple roasted chickens. I spent a while pouring through my cooking magazines and books trying to find the 'perfect' recipe for my fowls. I remembered a time in college when one of my friends had cooked a chicken stuffed with 40 cloves of garlic. I wanted to replicate something similar. Wandering through the kitchen, my roommate glanced at me intently browsing through my recipes and asked what I was looking for. After I told her, she chuckled at me and said "Just wing it!" So I did. And here are the results of my fantastic spontaneity...every bit delicious!!

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

1 5-6 lb. chicken with innards removed

1/2 c. butter

2-3 T. chopped fresh rosemary

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 lemons quartered

1 head of garlic, in pieces, crushed

salt and pepper

2 carrots, diced

4 small Yukon gold potatoes, diced

1 large onion, sliced in eighths

zest of one lemon

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place in a large roasting dish and season with salt and pepper. Stuff with lemons and crushed garlic, and tie off with string. Surround chicken with carrots, potatoes and onion.

Place butter, rosemary and minced garlic in a small saucepan on the stove and warm on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Brush half over chicken and pour the remainder over the vegetables. Zest lemon over chicken.

Cook the chicken covered with foil at 350 degrees F, 1/2 hour per pound. Baste the chicken every half hour. Remove the foil for the last half hour. Chicken is done when the thermometer reads 180 degrees F.

A little traditional Angel Food Cake for dessert...Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Enjoyed mine with a bit of vanilla ice cream and Irish Creme....highly recommended. ;-)