Olive Oil, Rosemary & Lemon Roast Chicken

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Ingredients: 1 whole chicken cut into pieces, 3-4 meyer lemons, 3 parsnips, 4 large carrots, 3 white onions, 1/2 cup good olive oil, fresh rosemary, 4-6 cloves of garlic, salt & pepper.

Start by making a simple marinade of olive oil and fresh lemon juice.  In a bowl combine 1/2 good olive oil and the juice of 3-4 meyer lemons.  Whisk in 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon of crushed black pepper.  Put chicken pieces in a plastic bag and pour in marinade.  Chop up several springs of rosemary.  Bruise with the back of you kitchen knife and toss in the bag as well.  Smash the garlic cloves and had it with the rosemary.  Seal it up and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  I prefer to let it marinade for about 6 to get maximum flavor.

Preheat oven to 450.  Lightly spray a roasting pan with oil or non stick spray.  Slice up the onions into rounds to use as base for the chicken.   The onions add moisture and flavor during cooking.  Roughly chop up the parsnips and carrots.  Season them with salt & pepper.  Take the chicken out of the marinade and arrange in the baking pan.  Place the parsnips and carrots around the chicken.  Place the lemon rinds in the pan as well. Pour any leftover marinade over the top.  Pick out any huge pieces of rosemary and discard.

Roast for 30 minutes at 450 and then turn down the heat to 350 and finish cooking for about 30-40 minutes.

Oktoberfest Dinner

Sausages with caramelized onions, roasted brussel sprouts & roasted potatoes.

For the sausages: simmer some bratwurst sausages & 1 sliced onion in about 1/2 a bottle of  good German beer for 10 minutes.  This should cook them most of the way through.  Drain the sausages & onions and saute them in a hot pan with a little olive oil until the onions are nice and caramelized.

For the veggies:  Boil the fingerling potatoes in heavily salted water for 10 minutes.  Steam the brussel sprouts for 8 minutes.
Spread the veggies and taters out on a foil lined baking sheet.  Toss with olive oil.  Sprinkle with spices.
Veggies=garlic granules, salt & pepper.  Potatoes=aleppo  pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic granules, savory & parsley.
Roast at 425 for 20 minutes.

I also served a side of baked beans because that's what he wanted.