Sarah’s Easy Lemon Pepper Chicken

INGEDIENTS

One whole Kaya Bird: the one I used was 3.88 lbs.

2 Lemons cut into quarters

3 cloves of garlic

3 tbs butter sliced

1 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

COOKWARE

A pyrex dish or roasting pan

Two chopping blocks. One large, one small

Cooking twine

Temperature probe.

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is warming up, use the small chopping block to slice your garlic and slice up your two lemons into quarters. For the butter, cut 4 long slices evenly out of the 3 tbs. Grab you Kaya Bird and put it on the large chopping block. Lift the skin from the muscle around the breast and thighs. I usually get to the thighs by way of the breast but do what is easiest for you! Distribute garlic evenly under the skin among both breasts and both thighs. Then place one slice of butter under the skin on each breast and each thigh.

Transfer chicken to Pyrex dish or roasting pan and tie the legs together with cooking twine. With the lemons, squeeze one quarter over the bird then place one quarter in between each thigh/breast and wing/breast. With the last three, one goes in the body of the chicken, the other two around the chicken anywhere you choose. Finally distribute the pepper and 1 tsp of salt as evenly as possible over the whole chicken. Make sure you get the sides! If you feel you need more of anything, go for it!

Place the chicken in the oven with the thighs pointing towards the back. Set a timer for 45 minuets. After 45 minuets, check the temperature of the chicken at the thickest point of the thigh making sure not to hit the bone. Take note of it as the chicken is not done yet! Depending on where the temperature is will dictate how much longer you have. Put the chicken back in but this time have the breasts face the back of the oven. Set the timer for another 20-30 min and check the temperature again. You want the chicken to reach 160-165 degrees. Once chicken has reached proper temperature, pull it out and let it rest for 10-15 min. Then serve it up with what ever your heart desires!

A note on temperature. When I cooked this 3.88 lb chicken, my temperature after 45 min was 123. I needed another 23 min for the bird to reach 160-165. A smaller bird will need less time, a larger bird will need more time. Keep an eye on it and check periodically after the first 45 min.

A note on ingredients. The bigger the bird the more of each ingredient you will need. Play around with it! Want more garlic? Add more! Less lemon? That’s okay! I would try not to skimp on butter though…