Olokliri Kota sti Skara..Read on, I will translate....

But first let me exclaim from the rooftops that I worked out 2 days in a row for the first time since before Christmas!  Maybe exclaiming that in front of the whole world (or at least the whole blogger community) will encourage me to continue with another workout tomorrow.

Now that that is out of the way let me remind you that I am working my way through my vast collection of cookbooks.  Many of them I have had for years but the cookbook I am sharing with you tonight is new.  I won this wonderful cookbook It's All Greek to Me by Debbie Matenopoulos back in November.

Today, I decided to make Olokiri Kota stil Skara or Perfect Herb Roasted Chicken and Vegetables. We love roast chicken so this recipe caught my eye.  Not only will we have it for dinner tonight but the leftovers will be repurposed and used for dinner on Thursday.

As usual, I used this recipe as a guide adapting it to our tastes and what was available in the refrigerator and pantry.  

• The original recipe called for fresh parsley and thyme, divided some placed in the cavity and some used for the rub.  I didn't have any so there are no fresh herbs in the cavity of the chicken and I substituted with Gourmet Garden, garlic paste and Italian Herbs for the rub.
• I only used 2 lemons instead of 4.  1 for in the cavity as called for in the recipe and 1 scattered among the vegetables instead of 2.  The 4th was used as garnish and I deleted that as well.
• I added celery to the vegetable mixture.

I just want to mention one other thing and then I will get to the Roast Chicken.  One of the first steps required is that you zest one of the lemons.  I recently received a vgrater from KitchenIQ for participating in an upcoming event called #TripleSBites.  I used it to zest my lemon and just look how wonderfully it worked and it took me all of about 2 minutes.  This is one nifty little gadget!!

Isn't that a lovely pile of Lemon Zest?

To make the rub for the chicken you will add your herbs to the olive oil.

Add the lemon zest and mix it all together.

Place your vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan.

Clean and pat dry your chicken.

Cut the zested lemon in half and place it in the cavity along with 10 sprigs each of parsley and thyme and 6 cloves of garlic, smashed, if using.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and lemon chunks.

Rub all over with the seasoned olive oil.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until an internal temperature of  165* is reached.

After about 45 minutes I tented it with aluminum foil as it was browning to quickly.

After another 45 minutes it was cooked to perfection.

The vegetables were tender and carmelized.

We had half of the chicken for tonight's dinner.

The other half will be used for another dinner and probably a lunch too.

The chicken was tender and juicy. The skin was glazed, crispy and delicious.  The vegetables were cooked to perfection but I wasn't crazy about the lemony flavor imparted by the lemon chunks added to them so in the future I will omit the lemon from the pan but include the lemon in the cavity of the chicken.

Perfect Herb Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

adapted from It's all Greek to Me by Debbie Motonopoulos

1 Roasting Chicken (4-6 lbs)

salt and pepper to taste

1 lemon, zested

1/3 c. olive oil

3 T. garlic paste (I used Gourmet Garden)

3 T. Italian Herbs (I used Gourmet Garden)

1 large sweet onion, cut into chunks

4 carrots, scraped and cut into chunks

1 large fennel bulb, tops removed, cut into wedges

4 celery stalks, cut into chunks

Rinse and dry the chicken including the cavity.  Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper, halve the lemon that was zested and place both halves in the cavity.  Tuck the wing tips under the body.  

Combine olive oil with the garlic, herbs and zest of one lemon.

Scatter vegetables in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Place chicken on top of vegetables and rub chicken all over with the seasoned olive oil.  Place in a preheated 425* oven for about an hour and a half or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165*.  If the chicken starts browning too much tent loosely with aluminum foil.  Print Recipe