This is definitely one of my family’s favorite meals! It is easy, comforting, and just makes the house smell like home while it’s cooking. Another good reminder to me, that sometimes the best things, are the simplest things.
3 carrots, cut into thirds
6 small red new potatoes, quartered if large
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 6 wedges
3 T. unsalted butter, melted, or olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 chicken (3 to 4 pounds)
1 lemon, quartered
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Put the carrots, potatoes, and onion in a 9 by 13 glass baking dish. Toss the vegetables with 1 T. of the butter. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Spread the vegetables to the edges of the baking dish, making room for the chicken.
Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and discard. Rinse the bird under cold running water and pat dry. Put the chicken breast-side up, in the center of the baking dish. Brush the chicken with the remaining 2 T. butter. Season the cavity and skin generously with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Put the lemon quarters and rosemary sprigs inside the cavity. Put the garlic cloves user the chicken to prevent them from burning.
Roast for 45 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven. Using tongs, tilt the chicken, pouring the juices from the cavity onto the vegetables, and shake to coat. Baste the chicken with the pan juices. If the bird is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Continue roasting until the chicken is a deep golden brown and the juices run clear when the tip of a knife is inserted into the thigh joint, or until and instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh, away from the bone, registers 170 to 175 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes more.
Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Using the back of a spoon, mash the garlic and squeeze some lemon into the pan juices. Toss the juices with the vegetables. Carve the chicken and serve the vegetables alongside. Drizzle any remaining juices over the chicken.
NOTE: My favorite way to serve the roast chicken, as recommended by the authors, is to carve all the meat from the bones after the meat has rested and chop into bite-sized pieces. Then return the meat to the garlicky, lemony pan juices, re-season it with more salt and pepper, and toss with the vegetables. This way, every last bit of the chicken is well seasoned and moist throughout.
Serves 2
COOKING THE BOOKS, YA’LL!