Lemon Garlic Chicken

This is one of those meals I make when I am not really in the mood or don't have time to cook dinner or I don't know what to make.  In other words, it's one of the 'fall back' meals we all have tucked up our sleeves. 

I love it for many reasons.  First, because it's forgiving for it's cooking method, substitutions and amounts.  Second, because you can 'fix it and forget it' in the crockpot so it cooks while you are busy doing other things.  Third, because it's just darn good and I'm always happy when I sit down to this meal!  Another option that I think tastes even better and gets it crisper is to roast it in the oven for the entire cooking process - skipping the crock pot - but this means you have to be there to 'babysit' it a little more and I'm usually on the go so I cheat and crock pot it and just finish it off in the oven to crisp and brown it.

I don't have an actual recipe... it's just something I threw together about ten or fifteen years ago and have been making ever since. 

Lemon Garlic Chicken

1 whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1 lemon, sliced in half
1 onion, sliced in half
Minced garlic, fresh
Salt and Pepper
Lemon Garlic and/or Lemon Pepper spice mixture

Place the halved lemon and onion inside the chicken.  Place it in the crock pot and season it all over with about 2 teaspoons of fresh garlic, salt, pepper and/or your lemon pepper or lemon garlic mixtures.  Cook it in your crock pot for as long as you need to while you are busy doing other things (6 hours on low or 4 hours on high - but timing depends on the size of chicken you used and your crock pot as they are all different even though they shouldn't be!).   The important part is that when your chicken is just 'done' or it's about 20 minutes before you are ready to eat, take it out of the crock pot.  Remove the lemon and onion.  Place chicken in an oven safe dish or pan and either bake it at about 450 or put it under the broiler for 6-7 minutes.  You are doing this to brown it - make it pretty - and to give it a nice crispy finish.  I actually broil mine upside down for 7 minutes, flip it back over with the breast side up and then finish the broiling to the top.

 

Garlic, lemon pepper and an onion and lemon - and you are good to go!

Not a great view, I know.  But simply put the lemon and onion inside the bird

Cover with spices and then?  Forget about it while it cooks

Remove it from the crock pot and remove the onion and lemon from inside (toss).

Finish in the oven to crisp it to a beautiful golden brown