A Whole Lot of Chicken

I have always wanted to cook a whole chicken.  I feel like it is a cooking challenge of sorts, and with limited time remaining before beginning work, I thought I would give it a try.  I picked up a whole chicken at the store.  It was so weird to see them there since I had never needed to notice them before.  I brought the chicken home and decided on a recipe for guidance (and hopefully success).

Glamour magazine had published a recipe called engagement chicken.  An editor at Glamour had given the recipe to her assistant who made it for her boyfriend.  A month later they were engaged.  This happened to a few other ladies, and the recipe was dubbed engagement chicken.  I had heard about the recipe before becoming engaged to hubby, but I wasn't sure a whole chicken would fit in my bitty New York oven.  I also wasn't sure if I wanted to carry a whole chicken home along with my other groceries... walking home with your groceries is very different than walking them to and from the car.  Even though engagement is no longer a motivation, I decided to make the chicken to see what all the fuss was about.

Whole chicken, lemons, salt and pepper make up the necessary ingredients.

The recipe is simple, essentially relying on lemons and lemon juice to provide a fresh flavor to the chicken.  I followed the instructions to clean off the chicken and stuff it with lemons and cover it in lemon juice.  Putting the chicken in the oven, I hoped for the best.  When it was ready, I took out a juicy, golden brown chicken worthy of a proposal.  The meat was moister than I had experienced in any of my other chicken attempts.  It had a lingering lemon flavor that gave the chicken dimension while still being light.  I decided to serve it with some simple pan fried brussels sprouts.  It was a delicious dinner, though hubby and I decided it might just be easier to get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store next time.

I was surprised at how delicious the chicken turned out.

 I made the brussels sprouts with olive oil and lemon juice to compliment the chicken.

 Dinner is served!