Julia Child’s Favorite Roast Chicken

My favorite (and most delicious) roast chicken with lemon and fresh herbs. Sorry Julia, no butter this time — trust me, it’s just as good with EVOO. Recipe adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Total Time: 105 minutes
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 fine, fresh 3 1/2 pound chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 6 fresh sprigs of thyme (or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence)
• 1 large lemon, cut in 1/4-inch slices
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2/3 cup mixed roughly chopped carrots and onions, or other root vegetables

Equipment

• A roasting pan 2 inches deep; a V-shaped roasting rack; a pastry brush for basting; a board or platter for resting and carving; cotton kitchen twine

Preparing the chicken:

1. Set the rack on the lower middle level and preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Rinse the chicken thoroughly, inside and out, under hot water, then dry it with paper towels.
3. Salt and pepper the cavity and stuff it with the thyme leaves and 3 or 4 thick slices of lemon; give the slices a squeeze as you put them in. Massage the olive oil over the entire chicken skin, including undersides, then salt generously.
4. Tie the ends of the drumsticks together with twine. Arrange the chicken breast-up on the rack in the roasting pan and tuck the flap of neck skin underneath. Squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon pieces over the top.

Roasting the chicken:

Set the roasting pan in the oven. After 15 minutes, lower heat to 350°F. When the chicken is beginning to brown rapidly, baste with accumulated pan juices. Roast for an hour, adding the onions and carrots after 30 minutes and basting several times. Very carefully test for doneness, checking for easy movement in the leg joint and clear color in the juices. Return it to the oven if there is any sign of pinkness. (A small chicken will roast in about 1 1/4 hours, a larger one may take 1 1/2 hours or more.) When done, remove the chicken from the rack and set it on a board to rest for 15 minutes before carving.