For any occasion, preparing and serving the perfect roast chicken is supreme — nothing compares to the aroma and ways to serve this delectable meal! Ina Garten’s recipe, found in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, has been my inspiration, and through the years I have prepared it dozens of times with great success. It is easy and magically serves itself alone with roasted vegetables or sliced on a bed of greens. Leftovers are scarce, but if you have any, many ways are available to use them. Don’t forget to use the chicken carcass and drippings for the beginnings of homemade chicken stock.

One 4 to 5 pound roasting chicken
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
1 to 2 sweet onions, quartered and broken apart
3 to 4 carrots, approximately 2 inches long, sliced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Large bunch of fresh thyme
2 to 3 russet potatoes chopped in larger pieces, with skin intact (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Remove chicken giblets and rinse the chicken, inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers, and pat dry. Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken, and stuff the cavity with both halves of the lemon, all the garlic, and the bunch of thyme.

Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string and tuck wing tips under the chicken’s body. Put cut potatoes in the center of roasting pan, and place prepared chicken on top; potatoes will cook under the chicken and be fabulous (this is optional). Scatter onions, carrots, and any leftover potatoes around the chicken. Rub the outside of the chicken evenly with the soft butter, and salt and pepper the chicken and vegetables.

Roast the chicken for 1½ hours or until the juices run clear between a leg and thigh. If chicken starts to brown too quickly, loosely cover it with aluminum foil until it is finished.

Bon appetit!