Monday 16 June 2014

Lemon Pepper and Rosemary Roasted Chicken


Do you know why I love roasted chicken so much? Besides the fact that it tastes so good, roast chicken is very easy to cook. I like hassle free cooking. And what could be more hassle free than roast chicken?

Chop! That chicken leg is mine!

This month's Cook Like a Star features Paula Deen and I didn't know who she was until I saw her on Masterchef US. Paula Deen comes across as very folksy, friendly and warm. So I took some time to check out her recipes and as you would expect, I jumped at this roast chicken recipe.

Is this sexy or what?

The recipe calls for lemon pepper seasoning. I am not familiar with this seasoning and I am sure it is available at Cold Storage. But don't expect this stingy madam to spend extra money as I am pretty sure this stuff is imported and expensive. So......when you are stingy you become very innovative hah...hah...hah....What I did was I mixed sea salt, lemon zest and black pepper. Meet my homemade lemon pepper seasoning.

Sea salt, lemon zest and black pepper. The cheapskate's version of lemon pepper seasoning.

The original recipe is pretty straight forward. What you need to do is sprinkle salt in the cavity of the chicken and then stuff it with lemon, garlic and rosemary. Then stuff two sprigs of rosemary under the chicken skin and rub the entire chicken with butter. Lastly, sprinkle with the precious lemon pepper seasoning. Easy, right?

I love garlic!

But you know me. I like to be a busybody and mess around with other people's recipe. I removed the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and minced them finely. My motive was to preserve the stems for planting because I spent RM1.99 for one sprig of rosemary. You see, from RM1.99 you can grow one rosemary plant. I am probably a long lost descendant of Haji Bakhil (Asian version of Uncle Scrooge).


I mixed the minced rosemary, butter, crushed garlic and my homemade lemon pepper seasoning. Then I rubbed this mixture all over the chicken and stuffed some under the chicken skin. And for better presentation, I tied the legs together before I placed the chicken into the oven.


Quite honestly, when the chicken was roasting away, I did not like the smell at all. The butter smell was very strong and I was quite apprehensive. But as time passed by, it started to smell pretty good. 


After resting the chicken, I pulled off the wing. Wow! It was delicious! The wing tip was so crispy that I chewed on it. Crunch, crunch, crunch....I pulled off another wing. I could eat the whole chicken! Which reminds me of an old story. When I was in secondary school, I made a deal with my mum. If I scored 100% for my math exam, I want one whole roast chicken to myself. I can't remember if I scored my math paper but I am very certain I didn't get the chicken.


This roast chicken is best served hot from the oven or warm. I don't mind eating roast chicken at room temperature and I have done so lots of times especially the roast chicken from the chicken rice stall. But for me, when this particular roast chicken has cooled down, it doesn't taste as good. Whatever it is, I am glad that I tried this recipe. This is my first time roasting a chicken with so much butter and you can be sure that it won't be the last!










Lemon Pepper and Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Recipe source : Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients :

- One whole chicken, cleaned and pat dry.
- 1 stem Rosemary, leaves separated and finely minced.
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or crush using garlic press
- 2 heads garlic, cut across into halves
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning* (see my concoction below)

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Mix butter, minced rosemary, minced garlic and lemon pepper seasoning.
3. Stuff lemon halves and one stem of rosemary inside chicken cavity.
4. Carefully separate skin from breast meat and stuff some of the butter under the skin.
5. Rub the entire chicken with the butter.
6. Place chicken on a lined roasting tray and place the garlic halves beside the chicken.
7. Roast for 60 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and and juices run clear.

*Lemon Pepper Seasoning (for stingy people like me who refuse to buy the one at the supermarket)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt or whatever salt you use
- zest from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Just mix all the 3 ingredients together.



I'm linking this post to Cook Like a Star, an event co-hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy KidsJoyce of Kitchen Flavours and Diana of Kitchen Goddess Wannabe. The featured chef for the month is Paula Deen.


Photobucket

This post is also linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Jozelyn Ng of Spice Up My Kitchen.

58 comments:

  1. Hi PH,
    I like your stingy, I like your innovative and I like your roasted chicken too!!
    when you pulled off the wing I wish i can pull the other one! hah......hah......

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    1. Hi Aunty Young! Last time I used to buy these special seasonings, But I use it only once and the rest are wasted. So I decided to be stingy and not waste my money. Since then "kiam siap" became a habit hah..hah...hah....

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  2. Ooooo...nice! Love how you cut your garlic. We did have roast thigh over the school holidays, didn't get to cook the whole bird. Love it so much - gotta do it one of these days.

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    1. Hi Arthur! It is actually a good idea to use just the thigh, drumsticks or whole legs because you may not like other parts of the chicken. I for one hate chicken breasts. If I make this roast again, I will just use chicken legs.

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  3. Morning twin.. I like all your roast chicken recipes.. I think it was the roast chicken thingy that brought us closer, yes? Same like you, I like roast chicken very much coz it's so easy la.. Just line the baking tray with foil, marinade the chicken with what you like, then bake! Hassle free in washing too, coz already lined with a foil ma.. Err, I don't know why I feel like telling you, it's out of topic, the "attacks" came back.. Thrice on Saturday, and once yesterday.. I couldn't breathe, heart was beating fast, cold sweat all over, I had to stand up and go do something, cannot just sit down, I feel like I will die.. Got up, did something in the kitchen, had a cold shower, got better..

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    1. Hi Louiz! So far, your roast chicken using oyster sauce and tomato sauce has to be my favourite!

      Maybe your panic attacks were brought on by the recent incident with G. Sounds serious and if it is bad, I think you should consider counselling. It could help. Just a suggestion because I am concerned about you. Please take care.

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    2. Hubby suggested going to see the doctor.. With medication, I can get better fast.. But I'm delaying it.. I don't want to see a doctor.. Wait, me seeing a psychiatrist? I macam cannot accept.. But when the attacks came, I really felt scared.. The feeling macam scared will die anytime soon.. Can't breathe.. Drowning..I got up, did something in the kitchen, had a cold shower, better..Then I needed to talk to somebody right away.. I picked up the phone and called my colleague, and he called back..(I couldn't call hubby, he was working).. I felt better after talking about it.. But how long can this go on?

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    3. Louiz, listen. Many people have the perception that seeing a psychiatrist means that you are crazy. That is not true because psychiatry is a field concerned with mental health. There are many areas in mental health like anxiety, phobias, OCD (yes, you an me!), eating disorders, depression and of course the crazies like schizophrenia and manic depression. Seeing a psychiatrist could help because it might be easier for you to talk a neutral third party about what causes you to feel panic. He or she may be able to counsel you and help you to overcome these anxieties. You may not even need drugs if it has nothing to do with chemical imbalance in your brain. Think about it, it could alleviate your misery in the long term because as you said, how long can this go on? Either that or you need some kind of talk therapy. Someone who you can trust and who will listen and not pass judgement and who can explore ways to deal with your problem. I really hope that you can seek help in this area.

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  4. Phong Hong, nice chicken...when Aunty Young and you pull off the wing, I would go for the drumstick...hahaha

    I bought 3 plants, rosemary, basil and Thai basil...after 2 weeks, my rosemary died but the other two still survive...after that, I did something like what you did, when I buy curry leaves, I leave the stem and try to grow them but they never survive after so many attempts...this week I would like to try this roast chicken, try to grow rosemary again like you, hopefully I will be successful!

    Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe to LTU and inspire me on what I should prepare for my weekend dinner... ^_^

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    1. Hi Jozelyn! hah..hah...yes, you can have the drumstick! Usually when I buy herbs, I like to choose those with thick stems. These are the ones that are most likely to survive. One of my mistakes earlier on was that I water the new plants too much. Don't put too much water. Once they are established then you can water them more freely. Hope your next planting will be a success!

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  5. I just cook this last night LOL

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  6. Phong Hong, I was looking through Paula Deen's website and I notice she uses alot of her own-brand seasonings in her recipe. So clever of you to make your own!

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    1. Hi Yen! Yah, I noticed that too. She does give some of the seasoning recipes and I guess those are the ones I can follow.

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  7. Hi Phong Hong, during this hot weather, roasting chicken is more feasible way than stir fry or deep frying. One more of your roast chicken recipe that I have bookmarked. I like the roasted garlic, must be very sweet and fragrant.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! The roasted garlic was very tasty. I should put more next time :)

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  8. What a spectacular roast chicken! And I have a feeling your homemade lemon pepper is a heck of a lot better than the jarred version :)

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    1. Thank you, Lizzy! I ought to take a peek at the ingredients list on the jar to make sure I have the main ingredients intact.

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  9. SEXY!! definitely SEXY lah this chick!! muahahaha.. looks awesome lah, perfectly golden brown and i love those garlic gloves also, like a flower.. lemon pepper and rosemary, sounds like a SEXY combination also.. the zest from the lemon sure gives a very refreshing hint to the chicken, and rosemary the aroma it needs.. ah, you can go open a restaurant and then KO the Canny Logers already!! hahaha~~ :D

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    1. Hi SK! Ah...I see you are very excited about the roast chicken. Very easy to make mah. I am sure you can handle it. So this weekend please go and buy chicken, lemon and rosemary :D Just season with salt and pepper. No need to make my cheapo seasoning hah..hah...

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  10. I know you love roast chicken all the while and I think all your roast chicken dishes came out looking delicious and amazing!!

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    1. Thank you, Mel! I am glad that this roast turned out very well and my camera seems to love it too :D

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  11. Oh! I also want to grab the wings, looks super good :)

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  12. Wow.. it looks so good.. butter chicken first? Ok, Let me try this recipe one day.. One Fine Day... When you mentioned taking out one wing and then another, I really wanted to laugh.. cos it sounds like me too! Cannot wait for it to cool down.. and especially own cooking one, I cannot wait to let it served on the table.. !

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    1. Hi Reana Claire! We must taste first before serving right? hah..hah..such a good excuse! Please try this roast chicken. I am sure you will love it!

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  13. PH, the chicken looks so tempting, I need to go buy chicken now.

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  14. Hi Phong Hong,

    You are funny calling yourself Haji Bakhil! I have rosemary, thyme, parsley, spring onion, oregano and many more plants... I must be the triple Haji Bakhil!!! LOL!

    From the look of your yummy roast chicken, I feel that I can smell this lemony combination... You are indeed a roast chicken queen :D

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe! So, you do know who is Haji Bakhil hah,,hah,,,He is one of my favourite characters in Ramlee's comedies. I wish that I could grow Italian parsley in my garden. I tried planting thyme but it did not survive. But I will try it again when I see a recipe that calls for thyme!

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  15. Wow perfectly roasted yummy. Ha ha ! "Sexy" ... ya the pose of your roasted chicken very sexy ! Oh yes I've a bottle of lemon pepper seasoning that I bought some time ago for some of my grilled food. Saw this same recipe but didn’t have time to make. I won't fight with you, can I have a slice of the roasted chicken breast ^-^?

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    1. Hi Karen! Ahaha....The chicken legs with that garlic half is so comely! You can have all the chicken breast you want because that is the part that I won't eat hee..hee..hee...

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  16. This roast chicken is perfect to make during weekend, sound yummy too.

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    1. Hi Sonia! This is a dish to make when you are not really in the mood to "char, char, char" in the kitchen :D

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  17. Hi Phong Hong
    Came across your roast chicken in LTU linkup, looks so scrumptious. I love roast chicken too, maybe I will try yours in a rice cooker. :)

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    1. Hi Ms B! Oh wow, roast in rice cooker! I think I have seen cakes being baked in rice cooker too. Interesting!

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  18. Wow your roast chicken looks irresistible. Mouth-watering good PH.

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    1. Thanks, Veronica! If it was a small chicken, I would be able to eat the whole bird!

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  19. Phong Hong, I would have thought that this recipe will call for "homemade lemon pepper seasoning," I prefer your way than the store bought! Yes, 100% sure~

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    1. Hi Jessie! I decided to simply make my own seasoning and it worked!

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  20. Hi Phong Hong,
    Wow, such a beautiful golden bird! We love roast chicken too! And homemade lemon pepper seasoning? You are good!
    I love the chicken wings the best, and usually it will be me that will munch the wing tip as nobody in my house likes them, except me, especially if they are really crispy. I could chew on the bones and telan them too! Haha!
    Thanks for linking!

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    1. Hi Joyce! I love those crispy bits and even the cartilage hah...hah...my dentist even asked me to stop chewing bones after I had two root canals hah..hah...

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  21. Oh, my, oh my...I can smell and your amazing plump, juicy chicken all the way here...and drooling at the same time. You and I must share the same love and passion for roasted chicken, because this is the way I love to make it as well. I use herbs, and my own homemade lemon pepper seasoning...love, love, the roasted garlic, I even add large potato wedges in the roasting pan, and large pieces of onion wedges.My dear friend, Phong Hong...your gorgeous roasted chicken spells L.O.V.E.!

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    1. Thank you, Elisabeth! I would have loved to add potatoes too and they would have tasted amazing! But as you know, I am avoiding carbs right now. Not forever of course, just till my weight stabilises hah..hah..

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  22. First time visit your blog, hop over from Wenn blog...

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  23. Oh yes, sexy indeed! Such smooth legs, makes me want to bite into them! Seriously, you make the best roast chicken :))

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  24. OMG! PH! How can a chicken looks so tempting in this!! The round thing is garlic?! The chicken looks seriously fabulous!!

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    1. Hi Tze! Yes, that round thing is garlic :) It looks pretty, like a flower hah..hah....and thank you for your compliments!

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  25. My dear Phong Hong, when I saw your picture, I wanted to take the roasted garlic, squeeze it on the chicken and eat! What a fab combination!!! :P~~

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    1. Hi Diana! The roasted garlic was so yum that I ate them all hah...hah...hah...I made a mental note to add more garlic the next time :)

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  26. Phong Hong,
    Your roasted chicken is making me drool!! This is prefect for lunch or dinner. Yum!
    mui

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    1. Hi mui mui! Your family will love this roast chicken!

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