I love a good roast chicken. Laura does not. Laura's on a busines trip, so it's time to work on my technique. This time I filled the cavity with an apple, garlic, fresh thyme from my garden, salt & pepper. I put a bunch of garlic under the skin as well and liberally oiled & seasoned the skin. A 5 pound chicken spent about 80 minutes in the oven (first 15 at 425, the rest of the time at 350). I added some onions, carrots and butternut squash hunks (the squash was not so successful - it lost all structural integrity) to the pan about 1/2 way through.
The chicken was fantastic! It was flavorful, juicy and there's a good carcass with lots of gelatinous material for me to make stock over the weekend.
2 of my buddies came over for dinner & we paired the chicken with a 1999 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes that was equally outstanding. Roast chicken and Burgundy - a match made in heaven.