Roasted Chicken

Sonia here.  We tried this chicken a few Sundays ago and it tasted good, but we would have liked more seasoning.  The only complaint that we really had was that the recipe had you rub the whole chicken with herbed butter and put it into an oven at 475 degrees.  Butter smokes at that temperature.  Our house was filled with smoking butter for days every time we turned the oven on.  I think we will cover it to try to lessen that effect next time.  The chicken was nice and moist, though and we enjoyed the leftovers in chicken noodle soup as well as chicken salad sandwiches.


Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken

1 whole Free-range Chicken
3 pinches Kosher Salt
3 pinches Black Pepper
1-1/2 whole Lemon, Divided
1/2 whole Garlic, Cut Horizontally
4 whole Fresh Thyme Sprigs
3 whole Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
6 whole Sage Leaves
2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley
Your Choice Of Vegetables, For Roasting
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FOR THE RUB:
4 tablespoons Butter, Room Temperature
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 tablespoons Fresh Rosemary, Chopped
1 whole Lemon Zested
3 pinches Black Pepper

Place oven rack in the middle. Preheat oven to 475ºF.
Rinse bird under cold running water and then pat dry. Rub generously with salt and pepper on the outside. Take the half lemon, garlic head and thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley and stuff inside the chicken cavity.
For the rub, using a small bowl, blend the butter, garlic, rosemary and lemon zest together. Add in the black pepper and rub all over the outside of the bird. Separate the skin from the breast and rub some of the mixture underneath the skin.
Cross the legs over and bind with cooking twine.
Place your vegetables (your preference) in a roasting pan and place the bird on top. Roast for 30 minutes at the high temperature to get the skin nice and crispy.
Drop the temperature to 375ºF and roast for 60 more minutes (see note below), or until the juices run clear when pricked.
Remove from the oven and squeeze the remaining lemon over top and cover with aluminum foil to rest. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes and serve.
Note: If the skin starts to burn, cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking.

serves 4

thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen