A Late Recipe of Lemon Herb Chicken...

I promised a romantic valentine recipe to you all, but alas, my world is in constant motion and so the promise went unfulfilled!  However, I will treat you with a late Valentine's recipe.  Who has time to cook on Valentine's anyway?  Not me!  Therefore, my sweet husband grilled out steaks for us after a day of cooking classes, birthday parties and various practices.

I think a wonderful meal for this time of year begins with a roast lemon herb chicken.  It is easy to make, better than a rotisserie from the store and less expensive.  Plus, I always use the leftovers to make chicken and dumplings.  (All three of my children request this meal for their birthdays.)

I don't know if chicken is romantic, but comfort food at home with a good bottle of wine sounds like my idea of a good time!  It is great with a salad or if the kids are joining you, green beans and mashed or roasted potatoes.  So, below I have the recipe for a roast chicken (which I promise is so easy it will be a weekly staple at your house).  Tomorrow I will post my mother's chicken and dumplings recipe. I know EVERYBODY has their own chicken and dumpling recipe, but I like mine... so try it if you will.  If not, the broth and chicken would make a wonderful soup...just add carrots, celery and noodles near the end.  Good Luck and Bon Appetite!

Lemon Herb Chicken

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 lemon

Kosher Salt

Adams Reserve House Rub

Rosemary-Garlic Bread Dipping Seasoning or

(1/2 teaspoon each of rosemary, parsley and thyme)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Thoroughly rinse the cavity of the chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle kosher salt and Adams Reserve House Rub (this is just a combination of course garlic, pepper and salt).  Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the cavity of the chicken and then place the squeezed lemon inside the cavity.

Next, you need to truss the bird.  This is actually very easy.  When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body so as not to dry out.  The quickest way to do this is to fold and tuck the wings up under the body and tie the legs together with string.  Be sure and keep the breast side up in the pan.

Now, I like a crispy skin on top, so I place the chicken in a 9 X 13 baking dish and rub the bird all over with olive oil.  Next sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of House rub and then sprinkle the herb mixture and rub it over the whole chicken.  Sometimes I use a bread dipping herb mixture and sometimes I go out to the garden and grab fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley.  If using fresh herbs, I probably add 1 teaspoon of each herb.  You can use 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs if you want.

Bake the chicken until done approximately  1 hour- 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove it from the oven, baste it with the juices and let rest for 15 minutes.  Always let your meat rest or all the juices will run out and it will be dry.  Beware, the kids in our house fight over the legs...so you just might have to make TWO!