Recipe of the Day 07/04/11!

Allrecipe.com photo

Happy 4th of July! I wish we lived closer to family for holidays (Nothing like a big family BBQ). On days like these I try to recreate a family feel with a big home cooked meal. One of my favorites is a roasted chicken. It's like a miniature Thanksgiving.
I went to trust Allrecipe and found http://allrecipes.com/recipe/juicy-roasted-chicken/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon onion powder, or to taste
• 1/2 cup margarine, divided
• 1 stalk celery, leaves removed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.

Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving. 

Look at all that butter!

A little dark, but juicy inside

This recipe caught my eye because it was so highly rated, yet very simple. I followed it to the letter and it turned out delicious and and very moist inside. 

Next time I make this recipe there will be some changes. 1TBSP of onion powder is a LOT. It got to the point where I was just coating it. I will decrease the onion powder to 1 TSP instead and add 1 TSP garlic powder. 

This recipe has a ton of butter. I don't use real butter I use Smart Balance, but even so I think next time I will use about half that much.

I'm not quite sure what purpose the celery serves. I will use it if I have it on hand, otherwise I will probably omit it. 

All in all, a great recipe, just needs a tweak.