I was thinking tonight how much my husband and I view time differently. He, like many men, is one of those people who can sit down and watch the same movie… over and over and over again. I, on the other hand, rarely will watch the same movie twice. I think that there are so many movies out there I haven’t seen, why would I spend time watching the same movie again and again? Of course, I have those few favorites that I will watch more than once, but seriously… my husband can get just as glued to the TV the first time he watches something as he does the hundredth. You can ask him a question while he is watching Star Wars Episode I for the twentieth time and he seriously has to pull his eyes away to answer the question…like he has no idea what is going to happen next. Oh and another thing… you know that television sports channel that shows old college football games? He can watch those football games over and over as well and still get excited about them! Here I am with a mile long list of never seen television shows on TiVo and he is watching a football game from 1980 again.
My husband, unlike myself, is one of those people who knows how to maximize the time he has as well. He can get more done in an hour than I can get just sitting down and thinking about what I need to get done in an hour. He has some kind of overactive efficiency gene or something. He amazes me that way!
An example of his overactive efficiency gene in action could be the dinner we made together today. We had a whole chicken in the fridge and since I am a whole chicken weenie (meaning the thought of putting my hands under the skin of a chicken or inside the cavity completely grosses me out), he got pulled in to help. The recipe we used is very straightforward… nothing fancy or difficult. However, by the time I even had the first couple of steps done, he had done everything else, including cleaning the prep dishes. He probably updated our will and designed our next house in that time as well… I probably was too busy pokeying along with my part to take notice.
Anyway, this is not a recipe that requires a whole lot of efficiency and unless you are a “whole chicken weenie” like me, really doesn’t involve pulling someone else in to help out. It takes a couple of hours to cook, so if you want, prep the chicken, pop it in the oven and then sit down and watch Harry Potter, again. Either way, when it is done, you will feel very efficient having a delicious, moist and flavorful dinner ready for all to enjoy.
Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken (from Recipezaar.com)
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic
- kosher salt
- 1 lemon halved and juiced,halves reserved
- 1 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 fresh ground pepper
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 (3 lb) chicken
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- On a work surface, mince the garlic with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Transfer the garlic to a small bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, rosemary, sweet paprika and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, whisk in the olive oil.
- Using your fingers, gently loosen the skin from the chicken breasts, thighs and drumsticks; try not to tear the skin.
- Season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper and put the chicken in a roasting pan.
- Using a small spoon, pour all but 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mixture under the skin of the chicken, rubbing it into the breasts, thighs and drumsticks.
- Rub the butter under the skin of the breast meat.
- Rub the remaining 1 tablespoon of the seasoned oil all over the chicken and season it with salt.
- Put the reserved lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken and tie the legs together with twine.
- Roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices from the cavity run clear and the chicken is browned and crisp.
- Let the chicken rest in the roasting pan for 15 minutes.
- Tilt the chicken to drain the juices from the cavity into the pan; transfer the chicken to a carving board.
- Pour the pan juices into a bowl and skin the fat from the surface.
- Strain the juice into a small saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
- Carve the chicken and serve with the pan juices.
Just one more example of men are different from women!
Just can’t beat roast chicken. I always consider it a company meal, even when it’s just the two of us! Beautiful photo Kristen.
Roast chicken is one of my favorite meals, this looks so delicious, with garlic and lemon, beautiful! And while it’s cooking I would probably watch Casablanca, again, or an old rerun of MacGyver! 🙂
It’s always great to do a little bit of work and have a great roast chicken to show for it. And there are so many ways to vary the flavoring, so it feels new every time.
Lovely new site and the chicken would go down very well with my family tonight.
I wish I was efficient like that!! This recipe does sound wonderful. I made my first whole chicken not too long ago – way easier than I expected. I’ll have to try this recipe next time!
I like the new site a lot and that chicken looks so delicious! Great start :-p
My boyfriend and I have been meaning to try and make a whole roasted chicken. I think this would be the perfect recipe for us to use. All flavors we like. Looks really good.
Mmmm, roast chicken is one of my favorite meals. I did a whole segment on it recently in my blog because I’m trying to manage to eat well with the inflation in food prices where I am, and one can make a bunch of meals for two people out of roast chicken and the leftovers — so yummy!
Wow, I love this site. I hope you don’t mind I added you to my blogroll so I can find you easy. This chicken sounds great. I get tired of the same old things. My hubby only really eats pizza and I’m sick of it. This may be on this weekend’s menu!! He can watch bowling from 1974, and believe me, he really, really does!!! Nuts don’t fall far from the tree do they?
Hi Kristen, sounds delic!
Love your new look on the site!!
That chicken looks marvelous…and men do seem to be able to watch movies over and over more than women, don’t they? At least seems that way with people I know, too! 😉