Serves 4-6
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour and 5 minutes, plus 10 minutes of resting time
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
· 4 pound Chicken, preferably fresh, antibiotic and hormone free
Parsley/Garlic Marinade
· 3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves (you can leave stems attached as well)
· 8-10 garlic cloves
· 2 shallots coarsely chopped
· 2/3 Spanish onion coarsely chopped
· Juice of one lemon
· Zest of one lemon
· 2 teaspoons sea salt
· 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 4 additional cloves garlic
· 1/3 lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat ovento 475º with a heavy pan with a rack
Puree ingredients for the marinade in a food processor or blender. Set marinade in a bowl, and then add lemon zest and juice.
Note: set 3 tablespoons of marinade aside if making Roasted Potato Spears in Parsley Garlic Sauce
Use your fingers to gently separate and loosen chicken skin from flesh. Be careful not to tear the skin. Loosen skin from breast, drumsticks and thigh meat. Flip chicken over and cut small slits at the base of the neck and tail bone. Carefully work your fingers into these slits to loosen skin on back of chicken as well. Using a small spoon, gently fill space between flesh and loosened skin with marinade, spread marinade throughout surface of the chicken flesh, on top of the breast, around thighs, drumsticks and back of chicken.
Notes:
Remove rings from your fingers when doing this, work slowly and gently, trying your best to not puncture or tear the chicken skin.
The marinade can be made and applied to the chicken up to a day in advance.
Place cinnamon, garlic cloves and lemon piece in chicken’s cavity.
Truss chicken with kitchen twine, tying legs together. To truss wings run a length of kitchen twine around the chicken between back and wings, tie into place.
Season trussed chicken with salt and pepper.
Place bird breast side up in heated pan with rack into hot oven for 20 minutes. Then flip chicken onto its side and continue roasting for another 15 minutes in this position. After 15 minutes, flip the chicken so that the breast is now facing down, roast in this position for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip chicken one more time, back to the breast facing up position.
Turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for a half hour. After a half hour remove chicken and place on a platter, breastside down with a small saucer wedged between the chicken’s tail bone and the platter. This will keep the bird tilted up so the juices flow down into the breast meat. Tent chicken with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
Remove kitchen twine used to truss the chicken, kitchen shears or a paring knife work best.
Carve chicken into pieces and serve.