Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Salt

This recipe comes from renowned Napa Valley chef, Michael Chiarello and his book Casual Cooking.  We wanted to adjust something about the recipe, but we couldn't. It's just too good the way it is. The skin is crisp and flavorful and the chicken meat is tender and juicy. Because we can actually grow rosemary and lemons in our foggy backyards, we have the fragrant, amazing salt mixture in our fridge at all times. It's important to use chunky sea salt in this recipe because using the same amount of table salt or kosher salt will make the rub too salty. If you only have kosher salt, decrease the amount of salt to 1 tablespoon.

1 chicken, about 4 lbs.
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
4 lemons, zested, then cut into chunks
Lemon Rosemary Salt (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, or to 425 degrees if you have a convection oven.

2. Rinse the chicken inside and out and dry well with paper towels.

3. Make the salt mixture (see recipe below). Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, then rub with 3 Tbsp of the seasoned salt.  (Reserve the remaining salt for another use.)  Tuck the rosemary sprigs and lemon chunks into the chicken cavity.

 

4. Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees (or 350 with convection) and continue roasting until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, 50 to 55 minutes longer.  Transfer the chicken to a platter and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.

Lemon Rosemary Salt:
The recipe makes extra seasoned salt, which you can use on pork chops, leg of lamb, or roasted potatoes.  It will keep in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for a month.  If you prefer not to have leftover seasoning, cut the salt recipe in half.

2 Tbsp very finely minced lemon zest
2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, rosemary, salt, and pepper and mix well.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Total Time: 80 minutes