Sunday Roast Chicken

I used one large chicken breast instead of a whole chicken.

1 whole roasting chicken 

1/2 cup (115 grams) butter, room temperature

*5 tablespoons fresh garden herbs, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 whole head of garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary

**2 1/4 pounds (1 kg) carrots, peeled, diced into chunks

**2 1/4 pounds (1 kg) potatoes, peeled (or not), diced into chunks 

*Use herbs in season - your choice. An example would be 2 tablespoons rosemary and 1 tablespoon each of basil, thyme and marjoram. Don't limit yourself though - use what you have on hand. You can also use dried herbs or even premixed herbal blend of your choosing. 

**Use root vegetables you have on hand or that is in season. Onions, parsnips, rutabaga (swede) or even turnips are good choices. Again, don't limit yourself.

***You can also add celery, whole garlic cloves or other vegetables of your liking to the mix.

Once you have your vegetables washed, peeled and diced, place them in your roasting pan and mix together. Spread them out in an even layer.

Now it's time for your bird. 

Mix your minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt and herbs with butter. Set aside.

Rinse your chicken inside and out. Pat your chicken dry after rinsing it. Dry your bird inside and out; wet skin will not produce a crispy golden brown crust.

Cut your head of garlic in half and rub the inside of your chicken with it. Lemons were expensive in the medieval era and if you aren't a stickler on this you can add some sliced lemon into the cavity of the bird. There is a chance that Hobbits would have saved lemons - even dried them - to cook with. You can also spike your chicken with a couple of cloves (which is a medieval spice).

Gently bruise your rosemary sprigs or dried rosemary and stuff them into the cavity along with both halves of the garlic. Tie your legs together.

Use your fingers to loosen the skin of the bird with your fingers and gently slide in the herbal butter as much as possible under the skin. Rub more of the herbal butter on the outside of the bird. Sprinkle out side of bird with remaining salt. Dot the vegetables with the remaining butter.

Snuggle your bird into the nest of veggies and roast your chicken uncovered on 475f / 245c for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Gently stir your vegetables and turn down the oven to 400f  / 205c. Return the bird to the oven and cook another 45 minutes - meat thermometer should read 160f / 162c when poked into thickest part of the meat.

*Be sure to check on your bird during the cooking, if it looks like it's getting dark then tent some foil over the chicken while cooking to prevent burning the skin.

Pull out your chicken when done. Remove from the pan and let it rest 15 to 20 minutes on the counter. If your veggies are not quite done, then return the to the oven and finish cooking them another 10 to 15 minutes at 400f / 205c.

Enjoy!

Source: Unofficial Hobbit Cookbook