Smoked Paprika Roasted Chicken

While shopping at Trader Joe's Sunday afternoon, we spied some whole chickens and thought about how good a roast chicken would be for dinner. We already had some Brussels sprouts in the fridge and some potatoes to help round out the meal. However, Jim saw buttermilk and I knew what he had on his mind...cornbread. Scratch the potatoes, add in cornbread.

But how would we season the chicken? I scrolled through a few recipes and found one that called for smoked hot paprika and salt mixed together and rubbed all over the chicken with a few sprigs of rosemary tucked here and there. Only problem was you then had cover it and let it sit overnight in the fridge. We wanted chicken tonight, not tomorrow night so we modified the recipe a tad. In small bowl we mixed together about 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, about 1 tablespoon each of crushed dried thyme and kosher salt then just enough olive oil to make a thick paste. We rubbed it underneath the skin, saving a little to rub on the outside. With the convection oven preheated to 450, we popped it into the oven for about an hour (for a regular oven, cook about 2 hours - depending on the size of the chicken).

Look at the beautiful paprika colored juice

Not even five minutes after we put it in the oven, we could already smell something good. Even outside on our patio, you could smell it cooking. I wonder if the neighbors were jealous?

Finally it was time to tuck in. It was very tasty and moist. I would have thought I'd taste more of the paprika than I did as the smell was intoxicating. But it was still very good and perhaps I will try letting it sit over night in the fridge over night to see if it makes any difference. Although I will say the crispy pieces of skin were wickedly delicious.