On a cold day, there is nothing like a perfectly oven-roasted whole chicken.
This one, adapted from "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook" is great.
Ingredients
1 (5 or 6) pound whole roasting chicken
Salt and pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
1 lemon, cut in half
1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 Tablespoon melted butter
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots, cut into 2-inch slices
1 bulb fennel, tops removed and cut into wedges
Olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse chicken inside and out. Cut away any excess far. Pat the outside dry. Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with half of the thyme, the lemon halves, and all of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wings under the body of the chicken. Place onions, carrots and fennel in roasting pan. Toss with salt and pepper, remaining sprigs of thyme and olive oil. Spread around on the bottom of the pan and place the chicken on top.
Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes.
Slice the chicken and serve with the vegetables.