How to Cook a Quick Gourmet Whole Chicken

Turn an ordinary roast chicken into a gourmet roast chicken with fres ingredients.

The word "gourmet" may make you think of food that takes a lot of preparation and cooking time, but that's not necessarily the case. You can cook a mouthwatering whole chicken in about an hour. Your dinner guests will love it and will think you've been cooking for hours. Adding a few readily available fresh ingredients to the recipe will quickly turn a plain roast chicken into a succulent, beautifully cooked gourmet chicken.

Things You'll Need

• Roasting dish
• Medium whole chicken (about 3 lbs.)
• 8 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
• Olive oil (about 4 tbsp.)
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• Paprika
• 2 lemons
• Basil leaves (small bunch)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Put the whole chicken into a roasting dish. Squash eight garlic cloves with the side of a knife; don't peel the garlic. Tuck the garlic between the legs and wings.

2. Pour olive oil all over the chicken so it runs to the base of the dish and forms a pool; about 4 generous tbsp. is fine.

3. Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt, ground black pepper and paprika over the chicken. Cut two lemons in half, squeeze lemon juice over the chicken and put the lemons into the pan with the chicken. Cover the roasting dish tightly with foil. This keeps the chicken moist and reduces the cooking time.

4. Put the chicken in the top half of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. While it's cooking, roughly tear up a small bunch of basil leaves; don't chop the leaves -- tearing them intensifies the flavor.

5. Remove the chicken from the oven using oven gloves. Increase the oven temperature to 400 F.

6. Tip the roasting dish slightly so the juices run to one end, then use a spoon to baste the chicken. Scatter the basil leaves over the chicken, then carefully baste it again, making sure the basil leaves don't fall off. If any do fall off, put them back on the chicken.

7. Put the chicken back into the oven uncovered and cook for another 30 minutes.

8. Remove the chicken from the oven. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and place it on a warm serving dish. Scoop out some of the juices from the roasting pan and pour over the chicken. Garnish with lemon, basil and garlic from the pan and serve.

Tips & Warnings

• Try serving the chicken with a mixed green salad. You don't need salad dressing because the juices from the roasting pan are infused with garlic and lemon; dribble a little over the salad. A few baby new potatoes, tossed in a little butter and chopped parsley, complements this gourmet chicken dish.

• You may need to adjust the cooking times a little depending on your oven and the size of the chicken.

• Always check to make sure the chicken is cooked before serving. Slide a knife or poke a fork between a leg and the chicken breast. Clear juices indicate the chicken is cooked. Pink or red juices mean the chicken needs to cook a little longer.