Joel's Birthday Peppered Chicken

Here is the promised "Happy Birthday to Joel" chicken recipe...

Joel's Birthday Peppered Chicken
source: Joel asking for 'Chicken with pepper' for his birthday and me wanting to try to cook a whole chicken for the first time....

What You'll Need:
1 Whole Chicken
1 Lemon
1 Onion
3 Whole Cloves of Garlic
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Ground White Pepper
1/4 Tbsp. Ground Black Pepper
Freshly Crushed Black Peppercorns
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Here's How:
1. Rinse your chicken, inside and out. By doing this, you'll remove the 'innerds' without having to fish your hand around in the hind region of the bird. (At this point, I'm thinking I will continue to buy already-made rotisserie chicken from now on and singing 'Happy Birthday To You...' as I go for motivation.)

2. Pat your chicken DRY. When I say dry, I mean dry. If it's not dry, you won't get that yummy crust you know you're craving.

3. Cut up the onion, lemon and smash the garlic cloves a little. Then stuff them in. Don't worry, it'll all fit. You can't hurt the chicken...

4. Mix your peppers, salt and oil in a small bowl.
5. Pour over the chicken and start the rub down. Getting all the places.....

(I cut a little slit for the wing tips to go into. That way, they didn't burn while cooking.)

6. Place the coated, stuffed chicken into a 9x13 baking dish.
7. Bake at 450* for an hour and 15 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 25 minutes after cooking to allow juices to rest and stay absorbed into the meat.

Slice, serve, enjoy.
The salty, peppered, crunchy crust is worth the whole hand-in-raw-chicken-thing after all!!!!!!