Roasted Pasture-raised Chicken

INSTRUCTIONS

• Drain the chicken and pat well to dry: Remove the thawed chicken from its wrapper and tip the cavity over your sink drain to carefully drain the red liquid that is likely sitting in there after it thawed. Pat the chicken well to dry. This will make it easier for your spices to adhere to the skin.
• I then lay my chicken on a clean baking sheet to season it before placing inside my roaster. This gives me easy access to the full chicken and catches any drippings.
• Preheat a conventional oven to 350 degrees.
• Season your chicken: Rub the olive oil over the chicken, be sure to cover all the skin…top, bottom, around those legs and wings. I like to do this with my hands for best coverage.
• Squeeze half the lemon over the bird on both sides.
• Next stuff the cavity of the bird with the lemon half you just squeezed, all the butter, the rosemary sprigs and as much of the onion as you can fit (shoot for at least half).
• Rub the salt, pepper and teaspoon of chopped rosemary all over your chicken.
• Add the seasoned chicken and veggies to your pot: Put the chicken breast side down in a deep glass or cast aluminum dutch oven that has a lid. Breast side down will ensure the white meat stays juicy and flavorful!
• Nestle the potatoes in around the chicken. I like to put the potatoes in before the carrots so they sit on the bottom of the pan and can roast in the juices. Then squeeze a quarter of the remaining lemon over your potatoes.
• Now fill in the spaces in between and on top of the potatoes with the carrots. And squeeze the rest of the lemon over the veggies and chicken (or omit if you prefer just a light flavor of lemon). You can discard the remaining lemon peel, or stuff it inside the chicken if there's room.
• Roast the whole chicken: At 350 degrees, count on about 20 minutes of roasting per pound of chicken, plus up to 15 additional minutes. Put the lid on your roaster and place it in the center of your preheated oven.
• Your chicken is done when a meat thermometer inserted deep into the thigh measures 165 degrees. If the meat is pulling back from the ankle bone and the juices are running clear, these are visual signs that your chicken is ready.
• Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes before carving: This will give the chicken's juices some time to retract back into the meat.