Perfect Roast Chicken

Serves: many

1 5-to 6-pound roasting chicken or (1 young hen 2-1/2 to 3 lb. chicken

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 sprig Keteri’s Fresh Thyme

1 lemon, halved

½ head garlic, cut in half crosswise, unpeeled.

2 tablespoons butter melted

1 Spanish onion, thickly sliced

1 cup chicken stock

(If using only ½ chicken, cut ingredients in half also)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and left over pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Put the chicken in a large bowl, add a tablespoon salt, fill bowl with water. Place the chicken in the refrigerator for two to three hours to bleed the chicken (this method is kosher).

When ready, rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out, then pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the sprig of thyme, both halves of the lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck wing tips under the body of the chicken. Scatter the onion slices around the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 1-1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you can between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and let rest for a few minutes. Cut chicken as you wish for serving.

Note: If you want to roast vegetables with the chicken, place whole small red new potatoes, 4 carrots, cut diagonally into quarters, and add them with the onions. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables for roasting.