LianneFARBES

I have on many occasions entertained crowds of as little as 1 and as many as 20 and it is always an experience.  I ADORE cooking, it is one of my favorite pastimes.  I routinely buy little gadgets and tools from Williams Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond and the like, look up recipes, test them out etc.  I take myself very seriously when it comes to food (I put split vanilla beans in my sugar canister and buy $14 chardonnay smoked sea salt, don’t judge me).  I watch the food network shows and PBS religiously but my most favorite recipes always seem to be from Giada DeLaurentiis and Ina Garten from the food network.  Ina always has something fab that you can throw together at the last minute and Ina is famous for showstoppers (just watch the butter!!  LOL)

One of my favorite recipes of all time has to be Ina’s Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken.  The last time I made it, my son asked for seconds (which almost never happens) and my guest’s mother tried to steal the bacon before we put it on the salad…LOL.  The chicken is juicy (not dry) and tastes delicious.  If you have an aversion to bacon (and I don’t know why you would, but I digress) then you could baste with butter instead but the bacon makes such a HUGE difference in keeping the chicken moist (I have experimented with and without and as far as I am concerned, the bacon needs to stay)

Here is the recipe….re-printed from the Food Network

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme
• 4 lemons
• 3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 pound sliced bacon
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.

Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chicken platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.

Now…..Instead of putting the reserved bacon on the platter with the chicken….I also made a salad (with mixed greens/baby lettuce) and a simple lemon viniagrette and crumbled the bacon on top…..but you do ya thing!

Lianne Farbes is the Head of the US Edition of HelloCotton an online social platform for discovering and sharing women’s blog content. She also writes for several online publications, she is a Beauty Expert, Social Media enthusiast, Project Manager, Web 2.0 cheerleader and she is always online in one form or another. Follow her on Twitter @LianneFarbes, @Hellocotton and friend her through any of her social profiles here and here

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Tags: entertaining, Food, food network, Giada DeLaurentiis, Ina Garten, recipes