I have cooked a lot of chicken in my life.
- Roasted Chicken
- Crock-pot Chicken
- Grilled Chicken
- Baked Chicken
- Beer-can-in-the-butt Chicken
- Smoked Chicken
- Bar-B-Q Chicken
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Shredded Chicken
- Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Gumbo
I am starting to feel like the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Company.
There are hundreds of possibilities out there for your chicken. This one is my favorite. Not only is it crazy tasty, it’s also crazy easy. This is what I want in a dinner.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is without a doubt, hands-down the best chicken I have ever ate. I’m not sure if my grammar is correct there. Maybe it’s the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. Either way, it’s awesome. It’s easy. It uses ingredients you probably have in your house right now. And, It’s relatively quick considering it’s a whole chicken.
My dad taught me how to make a chicken like this. He makes it in his summer kitchen….
on his fancy-schmancy grill. I make it in my oven. Either way will work. Heck, I’m pretty sure a $20 grill from Lowe’s would do the trick too.
My dad is amazing on a grill. My dad is pretty amazing period. Anyone who thinks they have the best dad in the world is wrong. I have him.
This chicken has it all:
- Juicy, flavorful meat,
- Crispy, tasty skin,
- It is so tender it will beautifully fall apart when served, and
- You will be left with the perfect base for your chicken bone-broth you can make tomorrow (or the the next day if you’re busy tomorrow).
All you need is: Lawry’s, pepper, olive oil and a chicken. That’s it.
It takes 3 minutes to prepare. 1 hour to cook. Bake a side of potatoes and onions & you’ve got dinner in the bag. So easy.
Here’s how to do it:
Take a whole chicken, wash it, and slice it down the back. Don’t cut through to the breast, just slice through the back.
Spread it open. You will hear some “crack” noises. That is fine. You are splitting the breast open.
Flip him over.
Shove the neck and all the organs under the chicken.
When your chicken is done cooking you can eat the organs (if you’re into that), or you can feed them to your cats (who will be very appreciative), or you can throw them in a pot with the rest of the left over chicken-carcass and make something wonderful.
I usually do the last.
Smear olive oil all over the skin of the chicken. I use my hands to give him a full-body, deep-tissue, oilve-oil massage.
Next, Lawry’s. As my dad puts it, “Season the heck out of it.” Except my dad doesn’t use the word “heck.”
Again, pepper it with the seasoning “heck” in mind.
If you’re not quite sure what seasoning heck looks like – it looks like an orange chicken.
Right before you put him in the oven, pour some filtered water in the baking pan. If your like me and you can’t cook without dropping, spilling, or knocking something over – put the chicken in the oven FIRST. Then pour the water in the pan. No mess.
OR, you can forget that tip and try to move a baker-sheet containing a whole chicken & 1/2 a gallon of liquid across the room to the oven and accidentally dump gross, raw, chicken-flavored water all over your kitchen floor. Ugh.
When you serve this to your family it is very important that you tell them 29 times not to throw any of their leftovers into the garbage can or into the chicken bowl! 29 times.
- Don’t throw that away.
- Don’t throw away the knuckles.
- Don’t throw away the skin.
- Don’t throw away the legs.
- Don’t throw away the neck.
- Don’t throw away the gizzards, liver, heart, or tendons.
- Don’t throw away the fat.
- Don’t throw away the weird looking thing that you’ve asked me to identify.
- Don’t throw away the other weird thing that you asked me if you had to eat.
- For heaven’s sake don’t throw away the wonderful juicy drippings in that pan!
- Even if you sucked on the bones – I want them!
- Did I mention – Don’t throw anything away.
It will be heavenly tomorrow when you do this!
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Ingredients
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Take a whole chicken, wash it, and slice it down the back. Don’t cut through to the breast, just slice through the back.
Spread it open so it will lay flat on your pan. Turn the chicken over so it is breast side up. Shove the neck and all the organs under the chicken.
Coat the entire surface of the chicken with olive oil. I use my hands to evenly distribute the oil. Sprinkle the entire surface with Lawry's and then with some pepper.
Right before you put him in the oven, pour some filtered water in the baking pan.
Bake 400 degrees for 1 hour.
