I recently tried this recipe for roast chicken with garlic, lemon, and parsley and I just had to share it on 2S2C. My husband’s Aunt N gave me this recipe a few years ago and I had filed it in the chicken section of my recipe binder. Last week, I was looking to make a dinner recipe for someone who recently had a baby and I wanted to be able to serve our family the same dinner that evening. This roast chicken recipe actually calls for two whole chickens so I figured it would work out well.
The chicken turned out really delicious. I highly recommend starting off with a higher-quality whole chicken, such as Bell & Evans. While they are definitely a bit more pricey than standard grocery store whole chickens, we could really taste the difference in the quality of the meat. The garlic, lemon, and parsley marinade also added the perfect punch of flavor as well.
The original recipe for this chicken is from the Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston’s South End. I read a story that they have been serving this chicken on the menu for over twenty years and no matter what placement it gets on the menu, it sells out almost every night. When we lived in the city, we always walked by this restaurant and I have no idea why we never went. Now I am definitely intrigued and I want to pay it a visit (although now I can always make this chicken at home!)
I ended up serving this with garlic rice pilaf and a mixed green salad with walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, and dried cherries (which is just a different variation of toppings used in the apple, walnut, and blue cheese salad.) Both of these recipes are quite easily doubled if you are looking to make a full dinner for your family and share with another.
- 1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, leaves picked off and stems discarded
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 shallots
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 whole chickens (I prefer Bell & Evans brand), 4 pounds each
- To prepare the marinade, place parsley, garlic, shallots, mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon in food processor and process until smooth. Meanwhile, remove chicken from packaging, remove giblets, and blot dry with paper towels. Place chickens side by side on a rack within a roasting pan. (Make sure your roasting pan is large enough for there to be some space between the two chickens so air can circulate. Otherwise, you may need to use two pans.) Rub the marinade all over the chickens and cover the chickens with a layer of plastic wrap. Allow to marinade 2-24 hours.
- Once chicken is done marinating, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook chickens for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Remove chicken from oven and allow to cool once it reaches 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh. Cooking time can vary greatly from oven to oven- I highly recommend investing in a good-quality thermometer to ensure that the chicken reaches the proper temperature. Allow chicken to cool for approximately 20 minutes before carving.
Source: Adapted from Bistro Cooking at Home by Gordon Hamersley
