Recipe Rescue: Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken

I love roasted chicken. And I have the funniest story about roasted chicken. Zachariah, my eldest was about 5 or 6 and had just come home from school. He was so happy to be home and excited about dinner, he cheerfully asked what was for dinner. I cheerfully responded roasted chicken and that is when his demeanor changed completely. Zachariah went crying to his room saying "I don't want sticky chicken". He was so upset and the 'good' mother in me could only laugh, he was hysterically funny, so dramatic. Today, Zachariah is a certified chef and loves roasted chicken!

1 whole chicken 5-6 lbs
2 lemons
2 cloves garlic
a sprig of Thyme
Ground pepper
softened butter
1 can low-sodium chicken broth

Putting It All Together:

preheat over to 400
remove 'goodie' bag from inside
cavity of chicken and rinse
thoroughly
pat the chicken dry reserve the juice
from one lemon and put to the side now
put both lemons, cut in half, inside the cavity
of the chicken along with the
garlic cloves and the sprig of
Thyme then 'paint' the outside of the
chicken with the softened butter
pour the reserved lemon juice

over top and ground the pepper
till you have a liberal amount adding a
bit of salt is a nice touch too now
pour the chicken broth in the bottom of
the pan or roaster

roast for about an hour and a half, when the
juices run clear and the leg moves freely
it is done, the internal temp, taken inside
the leg should be 172-180 degrees, I usually
pull it closer to the 172 as the chicken will
continue to cook as it rest as much as 5 degrees