Lemon Garlic Chicken

I'm starting a new job today. During the last four months I've been getting up before the crack of dawn so I could be at work at 7am, and now my work day doesn't start until 3:30pm. Needless to say, it'll be a change of pace and an adjustment to my daily planning. Warm dinner will now be lunch, dinner will have to be something quick and easy.

Last night, I pulled a frozen whole chicken from the freezer. It'll serve for lunch today, leave leftovers for tomorrow and a nice carcass for some chicken soup this weekend.

Lemony Garlic Chicken

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt and pepper each
1 teaspoon of basil leaves, dried
1 bayleaf
1 whole chicken, giblets removed

Zest the lemon before slicing in half and extracting the juice. Set the two lemon halves aside. Mix the juice with the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs. Stir in the zest. Pat the chicken dry with some paper towels and place the two squeezed lemon halves inside the cavity, together with the bayleaf. Put the chicken in a large ziploc bag, pour in the marinade and close the bag. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 375F while your remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Truss the chicken and place it in a Dutch oven or on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until the inside temperature of the chicken measures 165F or higher. If the chicken browns too much before it is ready, tent it with aluminum foil.

When ready, remove the chicken from the oven, rest for 10 minutes and cut and serve as usual.