I. Love. This. Chicken. I honestly don't think I've ever tasted roasted chicken this good in my whole life. It's taking every once of willpower I have to resist those leftover morsels in the fridge. I think I might be obsessing over it. I keep fantasizing about running through a field in slow motion with a huge roasted chicken. If I had to eat this everyday for the rest of my life I'd be totally OK with that.
World's Greatest Roasted Chicken
Adapted from recipe at Dinners for a Year and Beyond
INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken (6 lbs)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Remove giblets. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken into roasting pan, breast side up.
Mix all the spices together and rub it all over the entire chicken. Don't forget to do the inside too!
Cook chicken uncovered in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and roast chicken for approximately 2 hours (see roasting chart). At this point, I also added about half a glass of water to the pan, so I'd have more liquid to baste with. Baste the chicken with the pan juices every 30 minutes.
When the chicken is done, take it out of the oven, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes before you carve it. Then proceed with the carnage!
