Lemon-Rosemary Roasted Chicken

First off, let me say that I make a mean roast chicken.  Seriously.  Ask anybody.  Juicy and tender with a nice crispy skin.  I normally do it with salt, pepper, and various herbs (whatever I have on hand; never the same twice).  And butter.  Lots of butter.  But you have to say it "buttah".  It's required.

Anyway, I make a fabulous roast chicken.  And this one is SO much better.  You know how "no one puts Baby in the corner"?  Yeah, 'cause that's where my roast chicken recipe is sitting, weeping bitter tears of shame.

I found this recipe courtesy of the Pioneer Woman  (http://thepioneerwoman.com).  I love her recipes.  You should check her out if you haven't done so already.  I had a chicken in the freezer (they were on sale for $0.79/lb recently), so when I saw this recipe pop on Facebook, I knew I had to make it.

You should make it, too.

You will need:

• A whole chicken
• Butter, softened. (And, please, for all that's good in this world, use real butter.)  I used 1/2 cup.  I'm so thrilled that I'm able to ease up on my dairy restrictions now.
• Lemons.  I used 3.
• Fresh rosemary sprigs.  I used 3 or 4.  I don't have fresh rosemary in my garden yet, so I bought some at the store.  

Time to play with poultry, people!

1.  Prep your chicken.  Thaw it out.  Get rid of the innards.  Rinse it and pat it dry.  Put it in a roasting pan.  Throw some salt on the bird.

2.  Zest 2 of your lemons.  This was my first time using my nifty little citrus zester and I LOVED it!  I strongly suggest you invest in one.  Remember, when zesting, you only want the outer part of the peel. If you hit the white pith, it's gonna be bitter.

3.  Strip the leaves off one of the rosemary sprigs and finally chop the leaves.  Relish in how good it smells.

4.  Mix your chopped rosemary and lemon zest into your softened butter.

5.  Grab some of that lovely butter mixture and rub it all over the chicken.  Get in all the nooks and crannies.  Inside the cavity.  Under the skin.  Butter, butter, butter that bird!  (Note: In the interest of not getting chicken butter all over my phone, there are no pictures of this part.  Sorry!)  Save some of the butter for basting during the roasting; I put the bowl on the oven so that the butter would melt.

6.  Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons all over the chicken.  I erred and only used 1/2 lemon and really wish I had used a whole one.  Learn from my mistake.  Salt and pepper the chicken.

7.  Cut up your remaining lemons in half and shove them up the bird's ass.  Don't worry, she won't mind.  While you're there, shove in your remaining sprigs of rosemary.

8.  Roast the chicken at 425° for an hour and 15 minutes or until the juices run clear.  Baste it periodically with some of the lemon-rosemary butter.  Your house is going to smell SO good!

9.  Be sure to let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven.

I served this with brown and wild rice with mushrooms and Marsala wine (recipe to come at a later date) and broccoli.  Because we always have broccoli.

 This was SO delicious.  Juicy and tender with a very nice delicate flavor.  Even the boy had a taste and really liked it!  I keep picking at the leftovers whenever I go into the kitchen.

Go forth and roast a chicken!