Roasted Chicken

This is one of my favorite things to cook and eat.  It is inexpensive and tasty and always looks like a celebration meal.  I almost always roast 2 chickens at a time.  After all, why start the oven for just one.  One can be served for dinner and one can be used for future meals like enchiladas, tacos, chicken salad or chicken sandwiches.

I am watching "How to Cook Like a Restaurant Chef" and Ann Burrell is roasting a chicken.  She does something that I have always done and that is to make a garlic and herb paste and spread it under the skin of the breast.  I do the same with turkey, although with turkey I add butter or olive oil, because turkey always seems to benefit from extra lubrication.

I make a bed of root vegetables (carrots, celery, parsnips, onions) and herbs to roast my birds on.  I rub the herb paste of rosemary, parsley, thyme and garlic under the skin.  Then use my hands with a few tablespoons of olive oil to massage the outside of the bird. Place birds on top of the bed of root vegetables in a roasting pan and place into a preheated 450F oven.  After 20 minutes turn temperature down to 375F and finish roasting.  Depending on the size of the bird, this might take a total of 1 1/2 to 2 hours.