Roast Chicken

By LoriCaputo

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. dried tarragon or favorite spice
• Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 Roasting chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Melted butter

Preparation

Step 1

Cream together the butter, half the desired spice and the lemon rind. Set aside.

Wipe the chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and remaining amount of spice. Evenly spread creamed mixture in the space between skin and breast meat. Truss legs and wings with string, and brush the chicken with the melted butter.

In the bottom of a roasting pan, place the onion, carrot and celery. Set chicken on top and pour in stock. Cover loosely with foil and roast in 400 degrees oven for 1 ¼ hours, or until tender; baste with pan juice every 20- minutes. With each basting, turn bird to different side, first cook with breast down, then turn on one side, then the other. Finish cooking with breast up and remove foil during last 10 minutes of cooking.