Lemon&Rosemary Chicken

Fall is here! And this means Holidays season prepping, Comfort food cooking and hosting a couple of parties in between. Every year, I promise myself that I won't be cooking but always end up in the kitchen to please my family and friends. I love hosting parties and this year was no different. Despite the fact of being invited to two different dinners, I still managed to go to the grocery store, grab a whole chicken, some yellow lemons, some fresh rosemary and abracadabra...came out with this recipe. It is a very popular recipe in North America but believe me, I have never made this seasoning before. In Ivory Coast as well as some West African countries, the meat is differently seasoned. We often use ginger and garlic (optional nutmeg) or a mix of garlic, green onions, shallots, plus parsley or green pepper, onions and garlic... many other combinations but no rosemary! It does not grow there but can still be purchased at the Supermarket. Another good reason for me to try this recipe was that a good friend of mine gave me loads of fresh parsley and chives from her garden. Having all these herbs, I decided to use them in a recipe while there were still fresh. While we did not go for a 'traditional' turkey recipe this year, a large oven-roasted chicken with potatoes was sufficient enough for the four of us. Everybody loved it and the flavors were right on point even though the chicken was only seasoned for two hours. This is a ''cook and go'' type of recipe, very easy to make. You will need

Ingredients

- whole chicken or turkey

-fresh parsley

-fresh chives

-4 garlic cloves

-fresh rosemary

-softened butter

-2 big yellow lemons

-salt and pepper

Instructions

Once defrost, let the chicken marinate in the lemon juice with the zest for a minimum of two hours (overnight is even better). Meanwhile in crusher bowl, roughly mash the parsley, the chives, the garlic and add the fresh rosemary leaves to the paste. Beware, Rosemary is a very strong herb, be careful with the number of leaves you incorporate. I only used one branch for my large chicken but definitely add more if seasoning a bigger meat...

Grab the 'lemoned' chicken, add some salt&pepper over it and cream it with some softened butter mixed with the seasoning (all over and inside the chicken).

In a large pot, place the potatoes, vegetables, add one cup of chicken broth, a pinch of salt&pepper and place the chicken on top. Recover the pot with foil paper, place it in a preheated oven at 400 F. Let it cook for 45 minutes then remove the foil and roast (broil) for 20 minutes on each side. With the rest of the seasoning and some broth, I've made a seasoned rice and fried some ripe plantains as a side dish. And voilà, bon appetit!

Lemon & Rosemary Chicken