James Beard's Basic Roast Chicken

Beard’s beloved high-flavor roast chicken, rubbed with butter and lemon and turned several times for evenly burnished, juicy meat.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 pounds
• 1 lemon, halved
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small bunch fresh tarragon or thyme (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, for basting

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Wipe the chicken dry inside and out with paper towels.
2. Rub the cavity with the cut lemon, squeezing in a little juice, then season the cavity with salt and pepper and tuck in the herb sprigs and one squeezed lemon half.
3. Rub the entire outside of the bird with the softened butter and season generously with salt and pepper. Truss the legs loosely with kitchen string.
4. Place the chicken on its side on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes, basting with melted butter, then turn to the other side and roast another 20 minutes, basting again.
5. Turn the chicken breast-up and roast 25 to 35 minutes more, basting two or three times, until the juices run clear and a thermometer in the thigh reads 165 degrees F.
6. Transfer to a board, tent loosely with foil, and rest 10 minutes before carving.

Notes

Adapted from James Beard’s signature roast chicken method, the dish that helped earn him the title Dean of American Cooking.