Roast Chicken - my comfort food.

There is no doubt that after a long hard day most people would want to go home relax and hopefully skip the dinner chores, but I on the other hand would say cooking is great therapy for me after a long and stressful day. Like today for example, I couldn't wait to get home and make myself a delicious meal! Today was the kind of day I needed comfort food... my idea of a comfort food would be mangoes and lots and lots of cool whip =) But unfortunately the significant other would not agree, so having to consider T's feelings on what to have for dinner I decided to make the next best thing... a ROAST CHICKEN. The thing I love about roasting a whole chicken is the delicious smell that fills the room and that's when I know the night will be a very satisfying night.

Its quite easy to roast a chicken here is one of my favourite recipe.

1 whole chicken about 3 to 5 pounds, a few sprigs of rosemary, mint, thyme, and basil . 1 small onion peeled and quartered 2 carrots peeled and cut into thirds 1 lemon cut in half, save one half and cut the other half into slices A stick of butter partly melted in a bowl 2 cups of chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Wash and pat the chicken dry with some paper towels. Season the outside and inside of the chicken with salt and pepper I usually season the inside a bit more than the outside. Make a small cut in the skin and use a brush to brush the butter underneath the skin, do this thoroughly and be generous with the butter. Place 3 to 4 lemon slices underneath the skin on top of the breast area I would also recommend putting some of the herbs underneath the skin too. Stuff the chicken with the carrots and onions and the rosemary, mint, thyme and basil. Stuff the remaining lemons inside the chicken too. Use remaining butter and brush it ALL over the outside of the chicken - this will make the skin really nice and crispy. Place the chicken in a deep baking tray and pour in the 2 cups of chicken stock - this will keep the chicken nice and moist.

Roast the chicken for 90 minutes - basting every 30 minutes this will keep the chicken nice and moist. I usually like to serve this with a nice garden salad and some crusty baguette on the side. This is definitely my idea of comfort food. I also like to save the left over sauce and chicken bones to make a carrot soup and serve the soup over macaroni and this makes a great lunch!

The pictures are courtesy of W when we made this last time at Dot's kitchen, it was my first time roasting a chicken with W and it turned out so yummy!