Noth­ing smells like home more than a roast­ing chicken. I usu­ally roast two at a time. One for din­ner and one for any num­ber of other dishes, like Chi­nese Chicken Salad, Chicken Tor­tilla Soup, Chicken Wraps… This is from Ina Garten and it’s per­fect every time. Feel free to add any herbs you want into the cav­ity or under the skin.

Watch and work in real time with Amy.

Prep time: 5 min­utes
Total time: 1 hour 15 min­utes
Yield: Serves 4 with left­overs
Spe­cial tools: kitchen string

1 young fryer, about 4–5 lbs.
2 lemons, quar­tered length-wise
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pep­per
kitchen string

1. Pre­heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove any innards and rinse bird inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
2. Into cav­ity, driz­zle 1 tsp. salt and add 2 quar­tered lemons.
3. Lay chicken breast up onto a roast­ing pan with sides. To truss the bird, fold wings back the oppo­site direc­tion and tuck under bird. Tie legs together with kitchen string.
4. Sprin­kle pep­per and remain­ing salt onto bird and roast for 1 hr 15 min­utes. To make sure the chicken is cooked through, pierce the thigh at the thick­est part. If juices run clear, it’s done. If you want to use an inter­nal ther­mome­ter, the meat should reg­is­ter 165 degrees at the thick­est part of the thigh.
5. To serve, remove legs, cut­ting just below the joint. Cut down each side of the breast bone and around each breast. Once removed, cut each breast into 3 indi­vid­ual slices. Pull wings off, leav­ing drum­mettes intact. Cut off each drum­mette at the joint and turn bird over. Push­ing your thumbs into the flesh on either side of the back­bone, remove each thigh. Serves 4–6.