Roast Chicken with Meyer Lemons and Root Vegetables

To steal a phrase from Jamie Oliver, last night's dinner was easy peasy although we can't credit Jamie with its inception. It's more like an Ina Garten bird but really we'll have to give JBug full credit because she didn't even use a recipe. Are you still with me?

I've spent the last several days "jammin'" with all those colored orbs of citrus so unfortunately dinner was kind of on the back burner - not literally. I took the ends off 3 of our Meyer lemon beauties, cut them in half and put them on the bottom of my roasting pan with a trussed up 5 pound chicken on top. Of course the chicken was filled with another quartered lemon along with garlic cloves and fresh rosemary, salt and pepper and hit a 425 oven for an hour after being brushed with a little melted butter and seasoned on the outside with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

An hour later a slew of root veggies hit the pan including parsnip, carrots, onion, and turnip along with some spare mushrooms I had hiding in the veggie drawer and more rosemary. Fifty minutes after that the bird was done and so were the veggies - all sugared up and caramelized partly thanks to the juices from the roasted lemons on the bottom of the pan. We called it dinner. It was all good - darned good.

Oh if you've never had a roasted or grilled lemon before, you don't know what you're missing. They're sweet delicious and completely addictive so the ones on the bottom of the pan you might think are fodder? Well, they're not! The pan however may have been a different story but magically the baked on goo slipped right off after a night's soaking in warm water and baking soda.

In case you're wondering what's happening around here today - I've got 2 more batches of marmalade on the go; one Kumquat Minneola Tangelo, and the other Meyer Lemon but I gotta' make a sugar run because I'm plum out of the stuff. I've also put barely a dent in the lemon tree so there's Shaker lemon pie filling in our future as well as other little lemon surprises, along with some kumquat flavored vodka and a new fangled recipe for a kumquat cake that's flourless...and.... Gosh almighty - ya' think I'll ever be finished?

A year ago - Peach Glazed Salmon with Orange Pasta Salad

Comments

[Lea]

That bird is a beaut! and I bet those lemons were some sweet and delish!!!!!
Isn't it amazing how much sugar you go through when putting up all that citrus? But Thankful we are - yes!
Gotta run myself - need measuring cups and spoons - yeah - go figure... and we are getting relaxation massages today - wish you were here!

[June]

Lea - you're right about the lemons. They are sweet and delicious. Just finished a round of lemon marmalade and it's quite tart but it'll be wonderful on a hunk of homemade bread with some butter...lots of butter. LOL Wishing I was there with you too! Enjoy your special weekend!