Classic Roast Chicken

Who doesn't like roast chicken?  Perfect comfort food, PLUS, with the leftovers you can make dinner on another night!  That equals pretty good in my book.

Ingredients:

1 5-6 lb chicken
1 bunch fresh rosemary
1/2 head garlic
1/4 lb unsalted butter, softened
1lemon, halved
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 medium white onions, thickly sliced
4 Carrots cut into 2" chunks
1 bulb fennel, to removed, thickly sliced (I omitted this completely, NOT a fan of fennel)
Olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 Tbs all-purpose flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425. Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Salt and pepper chicken liberally.  Chop half rosemary and half garlic finely and mash with softened butter.  Lift chicken skin gently and rub herbed butter under skin, and all over outside of chicken.  Stuff cavity with rest of rosemary, a few cloves of garlic, and the lemon halves.  Tie legs together with kitchen twine.  Scatter onions, carrots, fennel and rest of the garlic in roasting pan.  Add salt, pepper, and olive oil and place the chicken, breast-side up, on top.  Roast the chicken for about 1½ hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.  Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter, cover with aluminum foil and let stand about 10 minutes.

 

 

*Derived from Chef Michael