Roast Provencal Chicken

The roasted chicken was another hit of yesterday's memorial dinner.  Even my cousin Lee, a lifelong vegetarian, was briefly tempted by the aroma.  We roast capons. The bigger bird makes for generous portions.  It also takes longer to cook.  If you flatten it, as I described in this post back in January, you can marinate it more readily and the cooking time is dramatically reduced.  This time round we made two. Nyls and I prepared the marinade, I flattened and marinated the birds, and my father, Nick, manned the barbeque!

Prepare the the marinade several days in advance to allow the herbs and garlic to infuse the oil. Combine:
Zest of 3 lemons
2/3 cup of lemon juice (approximately 3 lemons)
3/8 tsp of pepper
1/2 head of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon of dried herbs (Herbs de Provence, rosemary, or the classic parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme)
in a Mason jar. This is enough for one chicken.

On the night before or the morning of:
Flatten a 7 pound chicken
Rub with:
Coarse, kosher, or sea salt.
Place the bird in a large baking dish and pour the marinade over the bird. Marinate for up to 24 hours, turning occasionally. If you start the marinade the night before you should cover and put it in the refrigerator.  If it is the day of you can do it at room temperature.

When you are ready to cook the chicken pre-heat the grill to 400 degrees.  Have one side of the grill on and leave off on the other.  Place the bird on the unheated side and close the lid.  The cooking time is approximately 10 minutes per pound.  Baste the bird with the marinade every fifteen minutes or so.  Do not flip the bird or you will break up the delicious, crispy skin!  Remove, cut into pieces, and serve!