Ingredients
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 medium of onions chopped
3 carrots chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
7 1/2-8 pound of roaster chicken
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoons of salt
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lemon
1 cup of low sodium chicken broth
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, half the onion, half the carrots and half the celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool 5 minutes.
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Season the inside of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Fill the cavity with the cooked vegetables, thyme and rosemary sprigs. Cut the lemon in half; reserve one half and cut the other into 4 wedges. Place the 4 wedges into the chicken cavity. Tuck the wings back under the chicken and tie the legs with kitchen twine. Rub the chicken all over with the remaining 2 teaspoons butter and season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the remaining onion, carrots and celery in the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Pour in the chicken broth and set the chicken on top of the vegetables.
- Roast the chicken in the middle of the oven 30 minutes. Squeeze juice from the remaining lemon half over the chicken and roast 30 minutes longer. Continue roasting chicken, basting every half hour or so with pan juices, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165F, about 1 1/2-1 3/4 hours longer. Remove from the oven and let chicken rest 10-15 minutes before carving. Strain the pan juices and discard any fat from the top; serve with the chicken.