Winging it with Chicken

I love cooking! I can't say I am very good at it. Most things just happen by accident, and I am notorious for "winging it" when it comes to recipes. Cooking is always exciting and can bring such a great sense of accomplishment when you start something new and it turns out magnificently. Last night was one of those nights. Baked whole chicken, Yes Please!

The most difficult thing about baking a whole chicken, is making sure it is thawed. Which can take quite some time. If you are wanting to speed things up, fill up the sink with cooler water and place the chicken in the sink. Or you can just let the water run over the chicken. It took about 2 hours in the sink for my chicken to thaw.

First thing, preheat oven to 375' F.

Once the chicken is thawed, add 2 tbsp of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of olive oil in a bowl. Gently mix in parsley, thyme, italian seasoning, and roasted red pepper flakes, be generous with the spices. It will give your chicken GREAT flavor. Feel free to add any other seasoning you would like. Pour the mix over the top and bottom of chicken and rub it over the whole chicken. Being sure to coat the wings and legs. I stuffed the inside of the chicken with 1/4 chopped green pepper and half a small onion sliced. If your chicken has a pop-up timer, make sure the pop-up timer is in clear view when you place your chicken in the pan.

After the chicken is seasoned and placed in a deep pan, dice up red potatoes and fresh carrots. Place the potatoes and carrots around the chicken in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with thyme.

Put on middle rack in preheated oven. Set timer for 2 Hours. If your chicken has a pop-up timer that will make cooking it fully, much easier. When in doubt, check the temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read 180'F.

                      This is on my to-buy list, I can never remember what temperature I need to reach


The key to getting that crispy skin is basting. Periodically throughout the 2 hours. Pull the chicken out of the oven and use a turkey baster or spoon to scoop up the liquid and run it over the top of the chicken. I did this about every 30 minutes. The chicken will produce its own juices which can be later used as gravy or cooking other projects.

When the pop-up timer pops up, turn the oven up to 425'F and cook for another 10 minutes to really get the skin crispy.

This was by far the best chicken I have ever made! I could eat chicken daily and never get sick of it. For the first time baking a whole chicken, it turned out fantastically.

The only thing I would do differently next time, is add way more carrots. The flavor of everything plus the carrots was awesome.

P.S. Yes...this meal was completely GF!

A huge thanks to my friend Cara on this one! She offered some great tips and guidance in making this chicken amazing! Check out her blog! http://twogoldenspoons.blogspot.com/