Best Roasted Chicken. Ever.

I roasted some chicken last Friday following Sally Fallon's recipe from Nourishing Traditions. I love roasted chicken, but it seems every time i try, i follow some other recipe from the internet and end up with under done chicken. I just bought an oven thermometer (after i roasted this chicken) to see if my theory was true: and yes indeed, my oven is about 8 degrees cool. Lame.  I fiddled with my temps, and by following Sally's recipe, plus my own fiddlings, came out with the most delicious chicken ever. My husband loved it so much that he INSISTED that i write it down. And so i did:

• Preheat 375 (380 for me because my oven's so cool, not in a good way)
• Clean chicken, set neck and innards aside for soup and doggie treats
• Salt the cavity and stuff with fresh herbs and half of a quartered whole lemon. I used rosemary and sage.
• Chop more of the herbs and slide with some butter and salt under the breast skin
• Lay chicken upside down (breasts down) on onion slices in a roasting pan or pyrex casserole
• Cut the top off a garlic head or 4 and place cut side down in  pan next to chicken
• Rub skin with some butter, season with salt and pepper, squeeze half of lemon over chicken reserving some juice for the other side
• Roast one hour
• Flip chicken (insert a long handled spoon or fork into cavity and carefully turn the chicken over using tongs or a sharp fork. Help holding the roasting pan in place is helpful.
• Season skin with some coconut oil and more salt and pepper and lemon juice. Homemade seasoning salt is good here, too.
• Quarter some mushrooms, toss with coconut oil, salt and turmeric and nestle around the chicken. You'll want to stir this occasionally during the next cooking period.
• Cook for another hour until the legs are loose and temp is over 165. 

I finally got a hot, well cooked, crispy on the outside, moist on the inside DELICIOUS chicken up to 190 degrees inside! And those mushrooms all coated in decadent chicken grease? Come ON! SO GOOD. I made some mashed cauliflower with beets for the side dish and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Leftover chicken went to chicken salad the next night and soup on Sunday. I think i'll be making this for guests soon.

Proof that this method works every time: This chicken was made in August 2011 and was PERFECT.

Chicken grease is so delicious, but my expanding waistline wouldn't mind it if i invested in a RACK to keep the chicken lifted out of its fat. This may result in a slightly less moist chicken... but that's what gravy is for! hahahaha.