Roast Chicken

Here's a recipe that I tried for the first time this week that I think came out superb. Actually, it's the roasting technique that I tried out for the first time. Here's the thing about a whole roasted chicken - there are two separate pieces to the recipe. First you have the seasoning/flavor components and second you have the roasting technique. The seasoning is the easy part - just use what you like. But the technique can be the difference between a bird that cooks perfectly in an hour and a bird that comes out still raw in the middle. The technique I used was from Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipes cookbook and after tasting the results, I plan on using it again and again.

Roast Chicken
1 3-4 lb whole chicken, giblets removed
1 carrot, cut or snapped into 2-3 inch pieces
1 celery stalk, cut or snapped into 2-3 inch pieces
1/2 a medium onion
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper
dried thyme

1. Pre-heat oven to 375^oF
2. Rinse chicken. Dry well.
3. Lightly coat entire chicken with oil
4. Place Stuff carrot, celery, onion, and garlic in cavity
5. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme - be sure to add some to the cavity as well
6. Place chicken, wing-side up, on v-rack in roasting pan (yes, wing-side up) - if you don't have a v-rack, use some tin foil molded into a ring to help prop the chicken up
7. Roast for 15 minutes
8. Rotate chicken so the other wing is up
9. Roast for 15 minuted
10. Rotate chicken, breast-side up
11. Turn oven up to 450^oF
12. Roast for another 25-35 minutes
13. Remove from oven when an instant-read thermometer registers 170^oF in the middle of the thigh
14. Place chicken on cutting board and let rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes before carving

The chicken came out incredible - perfectly browned on the outside and moist on the inside. I served it with some rice pilaf and a mixed greens salad (for the grown ups; the kids had carrot sticks with ranch dressing). Everyone cleaned their plates. We got the chicken on sale at Whole Foods for $1.99/lb, so all told, this meal probably cost under $12 total. Actually, with leftovers and a chicken carcass to make soup with, I'll end up with two home cooked meals using quality ingredients for under $12. Not a bad deal if you ask me.