World's Simplest Roast Chicken

Place setting for two at Casa Reyna Del Cielo, Tres Piedras, NM

 

We don't eat red meat, but we still eat chicken and fish.  About once a week, I roast a chicken.  It's a really easy recipe, makes the house smell wonderful, and isn't a lot of work.  I swear to you, I will never give you a recipe that's a lot of work. Gracie doesn't cook that way. 

(One of these days, I'll tell you how I came to be nicknamed Gracie, but for now, let's just roast this bird.)

Equipment you will need:  

• 9" x 13" roasting pan 
• Heavy duty aluminum foil 
• Baster

Ingredients:

• 1 4- to 5-lb. roasting chicken
• garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground sage
• 1 tsp. ground thyme
• McCormick's Perfect Pinch Vegetable or Garlic & Herb
• 1/2 tsp. dried lavender blossoms (I swear to you, I am not going to go all Gwyneth on you, but this really is the secret ingredient)
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 T brown sugar or Sugar In The Raw
• paprika

Preheat oven to 350F.  Place enough aluminum foil in the pan to cover and seal the chicken inside.  (Don't ask me how to figure this.  Eyeball it.  This is not a sewing class.)

Place chopped onion in bottom of pan to serve as a "bed".  Trim excess fat from chicken.  Sprinkle McCormick's blend all over the chicken.  Make sure you get the folds of the legs and wings, and the underside.  Place breast side up in the pan.  Sprinkle sage, thyme and garlic powder on top.   Crumble dried lavender over breast area.   (You're going to think I'm nuts for adding this until you try it and see how good it tastes; then it won't quite be roast chicken at your house without it.)  Seal in foil as if you were wrapping a package, crimping edges  Leave a little headroom for steam.

Bake at 350F for about 1-1/2 hours, then turn your oven's temperature down to 275F and bake for about another hour.  (You can play fast and loose with this -- as long as the temperature is between 250F and 275F and the foil remains sealed, you can bake it for another hour or even two.  You don't want to know how long I've let it go some days when I'm busy or distracted.  The trick is to keep the foil sealed and the temperature low after the initial blast at 350F -- to what our grandmothers called a "slow oven".  Long cooking won't hurt this dish; in fact it will tenderize it.  Keep your foil sealed and it will stay moist.)

About fifteen minutes before dinner, open your foil (slit it open and peel back), baste chicken with juices, and sprinkle paprika over entire chicken.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the chicken breast.   Bake another ten or fifteen minutes until sugar forms a glaze.

Serves a family of four or five, or makes enough for at least two meals for two.  As long as you're using the oven, bake a couple of sweet potatoes along with it, split open, add butter and sprinkle 'em with maple hickory smoke seasoning.