Engagement Chicken

When we were dating, my then girlfriend (now wife) made me a roasted chicken that was unlike anything I had ever had before. When she served it, she told me it was called Engagement Chicken because, as the story goes, whoever you make it for will fall in love with you. While I do not want to tempt the fates, let’s just say that the chicken was great, I fell in love with the girl and now we are married.

- 1 medium size chicken breast (on the bone)
- 1 half lemon
- 4 garlic cloves
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then clean out the chicken breast by pulling out anything remaining inside the bird and rinsing it under the faucet with cold water. I don’t think anyone enjoys this step, but you have to get that stuff (ie: neck, liver, other parts you can’t name) out. Take a glass 9” x 14” dish and spread approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom – to prevent the chicken from sticking – then place the clean bird in the pan. Next, insert the lemon half far into the chicken cavity. After taking all the paper off of the garlic cloves, insert them under the skin of the chicken above the breast meat, two on each side. Now, spread approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bird evenly. Insert a digital thermometer into the thickest section of one side of the chicken breast meat before putting the dish into the oven.

Roast for approximately 45 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken registers 160 degrees. Slice into the breast to confirm that the meat is white and fully cooked before removing it from the oven. By cooking the lemon inside the chicken and using the digital thermometer, you are sure to have a very juicy and tasty chicken. Trust me… I fell in love with it.

Note: I have made this many times and have had luck with one variation. Instead of using half of a lemon, use half of an onion. Before putting the onion into the chicken, cover to cut side with garlic powder and skip the garlic cloves under the skin. This will again produce a juicy bird with a flavor a little different than the above version.