Ina Garten's Roast Chicken

It's been a busy time of year. Sadly, that's meant less time in the kitchen. I had to throw together a quick dinner yesterday, so I grabbed a chicken and a few vegetables... and grabbed the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for Roast Chicken. It's simple and fast. I've made a few changes to her recipe--it needs more vegetables, so I increased the veggies and added some parsnips. I also left the chicken in the roasting pan while it was resting rather than moving it directly to a platter. The predominant flavour is that classic combination of lemon and thyme.



Ingredients
nocoupons

• 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 heads of garlic, cut in half crosswise
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
• 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 6 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges 
• 5 parsnips cut in half and chopped into wedges
• olive oil
• salt
• ground black pepper

Directions 

Preheat the oven to 425º  F. (I cooked at around 400ºF in my fan-assisted oven for 75 mins.)

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of 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 the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting 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 a leg and thigh. Baste again with some butter about 20 mins before removing it from the oven. Remove the chicken and vegetables from the oven and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.