Brenda's Roasted Chicken Recipe

I don't have photos for this (it's in the oven now), but here's my New Year's gift to you all: my famous (in my mind) roasted chicken recipe!

But first! Don't forget to enter my gift certificate giveaway! Nearly six more hours to midnight here on the West Coast!

Ingredients

• One whole chicken, washed, patted dry
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Garlic cloves, smashed (skins still on is fine, as many as you like garlic)
• One lemon, washed and cut in half or quarters
• Dried tarragon, at least a tablespoon (I love tarragon, so I use it much more liberally)
• Fennel seed, same as tarragon
• Poultry seasoning (I use the Montreal Chicken low sodium seasoning from Safeway)
• Fresh cracked pepper
• Garlic powder (I love garlic!)

Steps

• Turn oven on, 375 degrees F, let preheat
• Oil a roasting pan large enough to fit your chicken
  
• Put your chicken in the pan, drizzle with olive oil, then rub the oil around the entire chicken, working your fingers under the skin to loosen it, then rub oil in and around the
  
• Give the cavity a good douse with seasoning, then tarragon (crumble it first), fennel, and cracked pepper
• Stuff the cavity with garlic cloves and lemons
• flesh directly (this is starting to sound like a horror film, isn't it?)
• Liberally sprinkle poultry seasoning, then rub it in the skin (underneath too!) and under the skin so that the meat also gets directly seasoned
• Work tarragon, fennel and pepper under the skin, then give it a good rub into the skin, with a final sprinkle of garlic powder and add poultry seasoning if needed
• Don't cover it, just put in the oven
• Now, I cook it for an hour, because my oven is really off, but I start checking it at 45 minutes - you know it's done when the leg readily loosens from the body (again, horror film) - but check throughout and baste as needed
• When it is done, let it cool, then enjoy! This is wonderful with crusty homemade bread and a really good leafy green salad (arugula, yummmmm)
  

Part of what's great is the wonderful fennel/tarragon aroma that will fill your house. If you bake some bread the same day, I guarantee swoons of gastronomic pleasure all around. :)