Sage And Garlic Roast Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr 29 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 19 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 lbs whole chickens (can use smaller but the cooking time is different then)
• 1 1/2-2 teaspoons lemon pepper
• 22 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (must be be fresh, don't substitute!)
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons chicken fat (chicken fat is better, but use olive oil if you don't have it, but not extra virgin) or 2 tablespoons olive oil (chicken fat is better, but use olive oil if you don't have it, but not extra virgin)
• salt and black pepper
• 8 sprigs parsley
• 2 small onions, quartered
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 lemon, quartered

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 240°c (475°f).
• 2 add butter, sage, lemon pepper and garlic in a bowl and combine.
• 3 using your fingers and a small, sharp knife, loosen skin of chicken from breasts and thighs.
• 4 slip butter mixture between skin and meat, spreading it evenly.
• 5 brush skin with chicken fat or oil and season cavity with salt and pepper to taste.
• 6 stuff with lemon, parsley, some of the carrots and 1 quartered onion.
• 7 tie legs together with kitchen twine.
• 8 put the other quartered onion and leftover carrots center of roasting pan and place chicken on top of them.
• 9 roast for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 200°c (400°f).
• 10 continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reads 80°c (170°f), about 1 hour. this will be about 20 minutes less with a pound less chicken.
• 11 transfer chicken to where you plan to carve and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.