Perfected Roasted Chicken Dinner

I got the marinade for this from the Gordon Hammersly's chapter of In Julia's Kitchen With Master Chefs. This is not creative---oldest meal in the book, but I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. It takes close to 3 hours but a lot of that time is waiting.

The most importent ingredient is the chicken. Free-range is not a crock when it comes to chickens. In Albany you can get great chickens at Cardona's for around $3.29 a pound. It is worth every penny.

2 free-range fryers, between 3 and 4 pounds
1 bunch parsley
4 lemons
2-3 shallots
2 heads of garlic
dried herbs de provance
dried rosemary
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
olive oil
3 onions
4 potatoes
3 carrots
broccoli optional


For the marinade, run the parsley, 4 cloves of the garlic, the shallots, a spoonful of the dried herbs, salt and pepper, and the mustard through the food processor. When it is pureed, start drizzling olive oil little by little. When it gets runny, stop. Marinate the chickens for an hour with a tight saran wrap cover. Don't let it go for more than an hour or the flavor will take over.

Preheat the oven to 350

While you are waiting for the chicken prep the veggies. Scrub the potatoes and cut them into large chunks. If you are using the broccoli chop it into large florets. Peel the carrots and cut them into big chunks. For the onions take off the very ends of both sides. Quarter them and take off the paper. They should stay together from the root end. Toss all these in salt pepper and olive oil and put them on a cookie sheet. Arrange them so that they are all face down on the sheet.

Put the chickens in, uncovered, on the upper rack, on a roasting pan with a rack. After they go for 20 minutes, put the veggies in the lower rack. After they go for a half hour, flip them. They should be really browned. When the inner temp of the chickens is 165 take them out.

After the chicken goes in, Take the remaining garlic off the clove without peeling them. Put them in a small saucepan and just cover them with water. Boil them for 5 mins, drain, and put in a small baking dish with olive oil. Cover and bake till the chickens and veggies come out. Peel them when they cool off a little.

Crank the oven up to 450. Let the chickens rest for 20-30 minutes. After that take the chickens apart, leaving the wings with the breast and the drum with the thigh. Transfer the pieces to a baking pan. Slice the remaining lemons and put them around the pan with the roasted garlic. Put it in the oven for 15 more mins with the veggies back on the bottom.

Arrange on a serving tray or plate individually.