Lemon Tarragon Roast Chicken with Vegetables
Martha Stewart
You can prepare two of these chickens at the same time: one to eat for dinner tonight and one to save for sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6.
* 1 garlic bulb, halved horizontally
* 2 sprigs fresh tarragon, plus 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon leaves
* 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds), rinsed, trimmed of excess fat, and patted dry
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 shallot, finely chopped
* Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 lemons (1 halved, 1 thinly sliced)
* 2 large red onions
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place both garlic halves and the tarragon sprigs in cavity. Stir together butter, shallot, and chopped tarragon. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Loosen skin of chicken near cavity with hands; spread butter mixture under skin all over flesh.
3. Squeeze juice from lemon halves over chicken; place in cavity. Season bird with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
4. Halve the large onions horizontally at an angle. Arrange in the middle of a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan or baking sheet to form a square. Position halves so that the slanted ends of each pair face each other, inward, and almost touch. Place chicken, breast side up, on onion "rack."
5. Roast chicken, basting 2 or 3 times with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken thigh registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit and juices run clear, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
6. Remove pan from oven, and let chicken stand 10 minutes. Carve chicken. Arrange chicken and roasted onions on a platter. Spoon pan juices over meat.