Everyone should have a quick, easy and simple ‘go to’ recipe for a roast chicken. This is my take on just that. For me, chicken is basically a blank slate. On its own is can be a bit bland. But with just a bit of seasoning and love, it can become the centerpiece of any dinner.

• 1 KOL Foods whole roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Butchers twine
• Basil – fresh or dried
• Oregano – fresh or dried
• 1 head fresh garlic peeled and divided into individual cloves
• Granulated garlic
• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 onion cut into rustic chunks
• Carrots cut into rustic chunks
• Peppers cut into rustic chunks
• 1 cup of white wine
• Potatoes – cut into rustic chunks (optional)
• Honey (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.

Place the chicken into a roasting pan or a baking dish. Open the cavity of the chicken and season with kosher salt, granulated garlic, some of the basil and oregano, and a few garlic cloves. Take a third of the orange and half the lemon and squeeze the juices out into the cavity. Put the ‘juiceless’ rinds into the cavity.

Truss the chicken using butcher’s twine to enable it to cook more evenly. Put all of the vegetables on the bottom of the pan. Rest the chicken on top of them and season the veggies. Then, season the entire bird with the kosher salt, granulated garlic, basil and oregano.

‘Plant’ garlic cloves in strategic positions on the chicken, such as where the legs meet the thighs, under the skin, where the wings meet the breast. Place any extra garlic cloves amongst the veggies. Put the bird breast side down, and squeeze half of the juice out of both the lemon and the orange onto the chicken. Add the white wine into the bottom of the pan.

Roast the chicken uncovered for about a half hour. After a half hour, the skin on the back of the chicken should be nice and brown. Flip the chicken and return it to the oven for another half hour.

After the second half hour, take the chicken out and take its temperature with an instant read thermometer. Go into the thickest part of the breast and of the thigh, being careful not to touch the bone. USDA says chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees.

Optional step - Drizzle some honey on top of the finished baked chicken. Put it back in the oven for about three to five minutes.

Let the chicken sit for fifteen minutes and then carve. Put the veggies in a circle around the edge of a serving dish and place the chicken in the center. Pour pan drippings into a separate bowl. If you want to thicken it into a gravy, use a little arrowroot.

L’Chaim . . . Avi