Greek-Style Roasted Chicken: Kotopoulo Fournou

I have happily eaten my Greek-Style Roasted Chicken for days. Never tired of the several ways I enjoyed it. The. Whole. Bird. If you make this recipe on a weekend, you’ll be cruising on the cooking front for the week ahead.

In this post, I offer the recipe for the roast chicken and the “Day-After” Greek sandwich. In my next post, I’ll show you how I made a Greek-styled rice dish to enjoy with the hot-out-of-the-oven poultry.

Greek-style Roasted Chicken with Spanakorizo, asparagus and Tzatziki sauce.

I drew inspiration for this recipe from the Kotopoulo Fournou recipe I found on the Ultimate Guide to Greek Food and another I found from For The Love of Cooking.

GREEK-STYLE ROASTED CHICKEN/KOTOPOULO FOURNOU

Preheat Oven to 375 F                                                                   Makes: 4 – 6 servings

Extra-virgin Olive Oil and Lemons

Ingredients:

• 1 — 3.5 lb/1.5 kg                                     whole chicken (fryer)
• a pinch or two                                         sea salt
• to taste                                                      ground black pepper
• 2 – 3 Tbsp/30 – 45 mL                           dried oregano
• 1 – 1.5 Tbsp/15 – 22.5 mL                      dried thyme
• to taste                                                      garlic powder
• 1 small                                                       onion, cut into 4 –  6 wedges
• 2                                                                  lemons, 1 quartered and 1 halved
• 5 cloves                                                      garlic, peeled
• handful                                                      roughly chopped parsley leaves
• several drizzles                                         extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1.     Prepare the chicken for roasting, see here.

2.     Sprinkle the cavity of the rinsed and dried chicken with some of the salt and pepper. Stuff it with the cloves of garlic, parsley leaves, quartered lemon and onion wedges. Skewer the cavities shut.

3.     Sprinkle the exterior of the chicken with a bit of sea salt, lots of black pepper and garlic powder. Rub the seasonings into the skin. Evenly scatter the dried oregano and thyme (in a ratio of 2:1) over the skin and run them in, too. Squeeze the juice of the remaining 2 lemon halves over the exterior of the chicken and then drizzle all the skin with extra-virgin-olive oil.

Greek-Styled Roasted Chicken: Kotopoulo Fournou

4.     Roast the chicken on a rack in a (oil-sprayed or foil-lined) roasting pan in a preheated 375 F oven, uncovered, for 1.5 – 1.75 hours. After an hour, baste the chicken every 15 minutes with any pan juices. Or squeeze more lemon juice or drizzle olive oil over to keep the skin from becoming too crisp or burnt.

5.     Remove from the oven when a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 F. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes, tented with foil, on a carving board.

Kali Orexi – Bon Appetit

5.     Carve and serve with Greek spinach rice (Spanakorizo), a crisp Greek salad or asparagus and some zesty Tzatziki sauce. I enjoyed my supper with a glass of flavourful Man Vintners’ Chardonnay 2011.

GREEK CHICKEN WRAP/SALAD

1.     Start with the ‘bed’ of your choice — wheat tortilla, Greek pita or romaine lettuce.

2 A)     If making a sandwich, slather some Tzatziki sauce over one side. Lay down a few romaine lettuce leaves, a layer of thinly sliced English cucumbers, a few slices of Greek-Style Roasted Chicken and 3 or 4 juicy cocktail tomatoes, halved. Roll and eat. Have a sturdy napkin or two nearby.

Love with Left-overs. Greek Chicken wrap.

2 B)     If making a salad, add sliced cucumbers, chunks of roast chicken, cherry or cocktail tomatoes, diced green pepper and a few slivers of red onion. Dress the salad with a Greek vinaigrette. Or thin left-over Tzatziki sauce with a bit of vegetable oil and lemon juice and drizzle over the salad just before serving.