Scarborough Fair Roast Chicken

I have had so many people ask me for my roast chicken recipe, that I decided to go ahead and share it. Until now, I’ve only called it Scarborough Fair chicken in my head. If you can’t figure out why before you finish reading the recipe, then I don’t know if I can speak to you!

Get yourself a whole chicken. (A 5+ pound one works for our family, and provides leftovers for one more recipe.)
1/4 c. butter, softened.
1-2 tsp. each – dried parsley, sage, rosemary (break it up a little in your hands first), and thyme.

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (if you have more time, heat it to 375, and cook it longer).
2. Use a fork to mash all the herbs into the butter.
3. Rinse your chicken, and trim any extra fat. If it has giblets, take those out, and do what you will with them. You don’t need them for this recipe.
VERY IMPORTANT: Use paper towels to dry off your chicken, including the legs & wings. Pat that sucker DRY, or it doesn’t work well.
4. Place chicken into a 9×9 or larger baking dish. Don’t add water. Tuck the wings under the front of the chicken, it will help it roast more evenly.
5. Use a skinny rubber spatula to put about 1Tbsp. of the butter/herb mixture underneath the skin of each breast. Start from the tail end – you can use your fingers or the spatula to gently separate the skin from the meat a little. Use the spatula or your fingers to mush the mixture around, so it covers the meat evenly underneath the skin.
6. Spread the remaining mixture all over the skin of the chicken, including the legs and wings.
7. Cover with foil. Make sure you can seal all the edges, but that the foil is fairly loose over the actual chicken.
8. Bake for about 1hr. 15mins or so. Remove foil, and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the skin is a lovely brown color and the chicken is cooked completely (to 180 degrees, measured in the thigh meat).

This should result in a VERY juicy, very pretty, very flavorful chicken that pairs beautifully with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. Our favorites are green beans or peas. Even steamed broccoli.

I’ve missed you guys for the past week or so! I have just sat frozen at the keyboard for days – my mind has literally drawn a blank everyday, and I just can’t seem to write. No idea why. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!

Grace & Peace,
Tiffany