[*Peanut*]

Ok, so for you cooking newbies, here is how I roast a chicken. Melissa reminded about putting some butter under the skin, which I added as a step here (in case you want to do it).

Ok, here is the chicky right out of the package:


(I have it on a shallow pan, but I think it cooks better in a 9 x 13 cake pan or other roasting pan.)

I flip the chicky over and pul out the stuff in the cavity:



I find that if I cut out the backbone and lay the chicken flat, it cooks much better. So, here is how I do it:

Get a good kitchen scissors and cut up one side of the back bone:





Then repeat along the other side:



Your chicken will end up looking like this:


(Keep the backbone in the pan because it will make the juices more flavorful!)

Flip the chicken over, placing the neck and gizzards underneath:



If you want, you can mix a few Tbsp of room temp butter with some salt, pepper, and herbs:



Spread the butter under the skin. For the leg, I go in from here:





And for the breast, I go in from here:





You can see the butter and herbs under the skin:



Use remaining butter on skin and liberally season with salt and pepper:



There are 2 ways you can bake the chicken, either:

400 for 1 hour 15 min to 1 hour 30 min (depending on the size of the bird)

or

275 for 1 hour and then 425 for 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the size of the bird)

Just bake it uncovered so the skin gets nice and crispy!! I like to spoon the juices in the pan over short grain white rice (salt and pepper it too) and it is to die for!!

Here it is all done: