Simply the Best Roast Chicken

This is the best roast chicken I have ever made. It is inspired by a recipe in Ina Garten's French cookbook, Barefoot in Paris, which encourage you to get. It has beautiful photos, helpful tips, and wonderful stories... and, because I am a "fan" of cookbooks, I have enjoyed reading it.

I have made many dishes in the cookbook, but this is one of my favorites and a go-to dish that satisfies grown ups and kids alike.

Roast Chicken
3-4 lb whole chicken
1 medium onion, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1-2 sprigs rosemary
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup butter, melted
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash chicken, discard giblets, and pat dry. Season cavity with salt and pepper and fill with onion, lemon, garlic, and the rosemary sprigs. Drizzle the outside of the chicken with the melted butter and season generously with salt and pepper.

Place chicken on a rack**in roasting pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until juices run clear.  Remove chicken from roasting pan and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.  Serve with roasted potatoes or homemade croutons (I like to drizzle the potatoes and croutons with the pan drippings.) Bon appetit!

** You can make a rack out of bunched up foil or even whole carrots to keep the chicken elevated out of the pan drippings.