Crisp-Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes

Last weekend my parents came over to do a little work around the house and I promised to provide dinner. At first I was thinking of grilling, but the weather has been unusually cold here (yes 40's and 50's is cold, don't even mention it) and going outside to do any grilling seemed just silly. I just made a roast beef for Christmas and although it was well received I didn't want to make the same thing twice. Lasagna was too hands on--I might be needed to help out with the work around the house. Finally I decided on roast chicken. I recalled an article in one of my recent magazines about how to make roast chicken several ways. I browsed through my magazines and found just the ticket-- Crisp Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes. In order to make it a full meal, I also roasted carrots along side the chicken.

I basically followed Martha's recipe except that I added a cut lemon to the cavity of the chicken to help add a little flavor other than rosemary. The result was a succulent, moist and flavorful chicken with a very crispy skin on the top of the bird (that's the important part right?). Also the potatoes weren't as crispy as I expected. This could be because I used a 10x12 ceramic lasagna pan instead of a roasting pan because that is what I have. I could have I think used a regular sheet pan with edges and that may have worked better. The only problem with roasting carrots is timing it with the doneness of the chicken. For me, the chicken took slightly longer than Martha guessed and the carrots finished cooking early...but it all worked out in the end.