Shopping for the Declaration of Independence

As mentioned earlier, I do the grocery shopping in the house. I make a menu and identify what I need from the grocery to make the meals for the week. I then make a list and call out to the family that they need to add to the list what they want or need or forever hold their peace. Well…at least until the next week.

One week, years ago when my boys were in elementary school, I was walking though the grocery store and found my wife had added a school supply to the list. While not common, it certainly wasn’t unusual either. I walked down the aisle looking for this specialty paper and couldn’t find it. I grabbed the nearest I could find (a tan colored, high quality, thicker paper) and bought it.

When I got home, unloaded the grocery bags and put everything else away I grabbed the paper and found my wife in the house. “Here you go,” I said as I gave her the package. She had a quizzical look on her face and asked why I purchased it. I told her she put it on the list, which she instantly denied. Pulling the crumpled list from my back pocket, I smoothed it out and showed her that in her own writing she had put on the list “Parchment Paper”!

This recipe calls for the kind of parchment paper not used by the founding fathers of the United States to write out the Declaration of Independence, but the kind you bake with.

Doesn’t that look beautiful?

Really nothing to this recipe.

Prepping the bird.

In fact it uses a quite a bit of the paper. Enough to wrap a large chicken.

The lemon was actually a stronger flavor than the garlic. It was moist and tender and had a very good flavor.

Moist Garlic Roasted Chicken

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min | Makes: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large lemon, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 6 sprigs thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Place a large sheet of parchment paper into the middle of a roasting tray. The parchment must be large enough to completely envelop the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, stuff with half of the lemon slices, and place breast side up in the middle of the parchment paper. Sprinkle garlic slices, and thyme sprigs evenly over the chicken. Lay the remaining lemon slices over the breast. Fold the parchment over the chicken forming a loose parcel.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken has cooked, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. A meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh should reach 180 degrees F.

Nutritional Info:

NutritionAmount Per Serving (6 total) Calories 388 cal 19% Fat 22.9 g 35% Carbs 3.1 g < 1% Protein 41.2 g 82% Cholesterol 129 mg 43% Sodium 319 mg 13% See More Based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Source: http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/104934/moist-garlic-roasted-chicken