Garlic Roast Chicken

The year 2013 has been a big year full of surprises for me. I now subscribe to Good Housekeeping and Better Homes and Gardens. I've turned into a nester, and love decorating my mantel for the holidays. I'm married. I have a food blog. I never saw any of this coming. For years, I only wanted to read In Style and Cosmo. I thought a wreath on the front door was plenty of decorating, and the only thing I liked to cook was scrambled eggs. The times are changing. 

I would have NEVER have said something like this - I'm in the mood to roast a chicken! It's true, all week I've been thinking about how wonderful it would be to get out my roasting pan, and roast the perfect beautiful chicken. Then, as if I needed another sign, I watched an Ina Garten episode and what did she do - she roasted a chicken! So, I made it happen, and we loved every single bite. 

Garlic Roast Chicken
from Ina Garten at the Food Network

1 (5 or 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 heads garlic, cut in half crosswise
1 lemon, halved
1/2 large Spanish onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut diagonally into 2-inch chunks
2 large yukon gold potatoes, cut into 6 pieces
4 Tbsp butter, melted

As soon as you get the chicken home, salt it inside and out, wrap it, and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken and stuff the cavity with all the garlic and lemon. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place it in a roasting pan. Scatter the onion slices, carrots and potatoes around the chicken. Brush the outside of the chicken with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil. Place the vegetables back in the oven and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. 

When the vegetables are cooked, carve the chicken and place the slices on a platter surrounded by the vegetables. Drizzle some pan juices over the chicken and vegetables.