Engagement Chicken: For Real or Fake!

Today as I browsed the web I came upon an interesting recipe from GLAMOUR Magazine referring  to a dish that every woman should know how to prepare.  This recipe is entitled Engagement Chicken! It started back in 2006 when then, GLAMOUR fashion editor, Kim Bonnell passed her chicken recipe to her assistant, Kathy Suder to prepare a nice homemade dinner for her now HUBBY of 10+ years Ron (they were engaged a month later!).
Kim's chicken recipe began to circulate the office as fast as wedding nuptial plans!  The recipe was passed from assistant to assistant while weddings plans and dates began to fill up the calendar.  It was at this point Kim named the recipe," Engagement Chicken".
As the effects of this chicken recipe began to circulate and single ladies became Mrs., Engagement Chicken has become a common dinner served during the months of November and December which are known as Engagement Season in the wedding industry.  I thought this was a joke, fable or part of tabloid tale until I googled, "Engagement Chicken" and found it on Food Network, prepared by Ina Garten ( I love Ina), Epicurious.com and many other notable cooking-go-to sites.

Now, I don't believe in this myth, but I thought it was cute enough to share with all of you. 

Happy Engagement Season!  And ladies, let your groom find you! Oh...I didn't let you in on the secret.  If he proposed to you after you made him a wonderful meal....he was already going to ask you to become his life long, forever girl anyway! 

Recipe:

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 medium lemons
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• Kosher or Sea Salt Ground black pepper
• Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat 400 degrees. Wash chicken inside and out with cold water, remove giblets, then let the chicken drain, cavity down in a colander until it reaches room temperature (15 minutes or so).
• Pat dry with paper towels. Pour lemon juice all over chicken, inside and outside.
• Season with salt and pepper. Prick the whole lemons three times with a fork and place deep inside the cavity. (Tip: If the lemons are hard, roll on countertop with palm to get juices flowing)
• Place the bird breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan. Lower heat to 350 degrees and bake uncovered 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and turn breast side up (use wooden spoons!); return to oven for 35 minutes more.
• Test for doneness-insert meat thermometer in the thigh-temperature should read 180 degrees or juices should run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork. Continue baking if necessary. Let chicken stand for a few minutes before carving.

Serve with juices on top.