Roasted Chicken with lemon and rosemary

Hello Crushers!

As promised, here is my attempt at Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Chicken. I followed the recipe from Kitchen Crush Ree Drummond (also known as the Pioneer Woman) almost exactly. I encourage you to go check out her recipe in case you'd like to try that and also because she has way better pictures.

Here is what I did:
Roast Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary
Based on the recipe by Ree Drummond
Ingredients:

• 1 whole Chicken, Patted Dry
• 3/4 -ish cups Butter, Softened
• 2 whole Lemons
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh from the garden Rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp dried Thyme
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Gear you'll need:

• Large bowl, spoon, measuring cups, zester/fine grater, baking sheet with sides, heavy duty aluminum foil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. This is super helpful in the clean up! Open up that chicken package and take the baggie of guts out. Unless you're planning on making a chicken liver pate, just chuck it. I'm not into organ meats, but if you are, that's nice. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and then chuck those too. No one wants salmonella poisoning. This is the reason that you DO NOT rinse your chicken. Just pat it dry and lay it on the foil. Let it air out a bit.
 

Zest away, Crushers!

In the mean time, let's get to the buttery goodness. If your butter isn't softened enough, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. I mean that. Do not put it in for over 12 seconds at a time or you just melted your butter. Once you have soft butter, zest two lemons over the butter bowl. This will smell so good. Then add the diced rosemary and thyme. As Ree Drummond says, you can mix and match your herbs and citrus, so don't be afraid to try new things!

Buttery lemon goodness!

Once you have all the herb butter mixed up, slather it all over the chicken and make sure to get it in all the nooks and crannies. Yes, even inside the bird. Don't be shy! Just stick your hand in the cavity. You can do it! If it helps, you can pretend that you're putting sun screen on the chicken, so you know you've got to cover everything or the poor thing will burn. Once you've buttered it up, sprinkle lemon juice over the chicken and then cram as many lemon halves inside the chicken. Ree's recipe called for three lemons, but I could only fit two inside, so I'm suggesting that you just buy two.

Buttered up and in the oven!
Note: when you sprinkle the lemon juice on it, some of the butter may slide around.

Wash your hands thoroughly and then pop the chicken in the oven for at least an hour and 25 minutes. It might take longer. When it's all done, the insides won't be pink and all the juices will run clear. 

Yum!

Serve it up with some of your favorite sides (butternut squash gnocchi, beets and green beans all from the garden!), and enjoy!

Sorry for the messy plate, but I was starving!