Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

I love the Thanksgiving holiday almost as much as I love the Christmas Holiday (which starts in August in my house).  The smells, the flavors, the gatherings, just linger in my heart.  One day, I was perusing a favorite recipe site for crock pot ideas, when I found this heavenly fragrant whole chicken dish.  It smells like Thanksgiving Day.

The original recipe claims a 9 hour cooking time, for a 3 lb chicken.  Mine, and always a bigger chicken, is done in about 6 hours. Work with your own slow cooker to see how long it takes in your home.  Flambo!!

Below is the link for the original recipe:

Fragrant Lemon Chicken

Here is what I do with it.  I put this in the Crock Pot every Sunday and it’s ready for us when we get home from church.

 Ready to start cooking.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 Apple, peeled, quartered and seeded

1 Lemon, zested and juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium sized onion, (your choice) chopped
1 sprig of Fresh Rosemary (1 tsp of dried from a jar if you don’t have fresh)

1 cup water or Chicken Broth

Rinse the chicken and place in the slow cooker.  Stuff the cavity with the celery and apple pieces.

Sprinkle the Lemon Zest over the chicken breast, add salt and pepper.  Evenly distribute the chopped onion on top.  Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the onions, then pluck the fresh rosemary leaves off the stem and sprinkle them around the chicken.

Add the water or broth to the pot.

Place the lid on the pot and turn on to High for 1 hour.  After one hour, turn down to Low for another 5 hours (according to my crock pot) or until the chicken legs are easily moved around. 

This chicken can take 6-8 hours to cook, depending on your slow cooker quirks.  Mine takes about 6 hours.  But no matter how long it takes, it smells like Thanksgiving Day.  I love Sundays.

After the chicken is cooked, the juice makes a fabulous gravy. Strain the juices into a juice/fat separator, if you have it, leaving to sit for a few minutes so the fat can rise to the top.  Pour into a pot (after skimming the fat off the top if you don’t have the separator) adding the onions and rosemary to said pot along with more salt and pepper.  I add probably another cup of chicken broth from a carton (a good quality organic brand), about 1/2 cup Almond milk (regular milk will be just fine) a few pieces of  dark meat, shredded, and thicken with a cornstarch and water mixture. 

This is wonderful on Mashed potatoes, on the meat, and saving leftover gravy to pour into a Chicken Pot Pie on Tuesday.