Gourmet Roast Chicken

There are a thousand ways to roast a chicken. It varies from continent to continent, country to country, state to state and in my case province to province since we have provinces rather than states in the Philippines.But with all the different variations we have to roast  chicken we can all conclude that we want our chicken tender, juicy, and crispy golden skin. I cook mine together with my carbs,  it's basically one meal in one pot.So here is my version:

Ingredients:

1 whole organic chicken or natural chicken ( I found that inorganic chicken is more fatty and it has a very distinct meat flavor not in a good way; I think it is because of the anti biotic that they injected in the chicken)
1 whole head of garlic, cut crosswise
1  lemon, halved
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried thyme
black pepper
2 tbsp. of butter
2 potatoes
1 small onion
Olive oil


Preparation:

* Clean and remove the innards of the chicken. Using a paper towel, pat it dry thoroughly (this will make sure that the skin is crispy)
* Season the cavity with salt and pepper; be generous.
*Place your innards, thyme, garlic, and lemon in the cavity
* Season slightly with salt and pepper (this will make sure that your chicken will be well seasoned)
*Melt the butter and brush it all over the chicken.
*Season the skin with butter, dried thyme, pepper and salt set aside.
*Cut your potatoes and onion into large cubes.
*In a baking sheet place the potatoes and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle it with olive oil (this will make your potatoes crispy and not dry)
*Place your chicken in the side of the potatoes (the juices from the chicken will season your potatoes more; the reason why I did not put the potatoes under the chicken is when the potatoes cook it will be soft and the weight of the chicken with mush it)

*Preheat oven to 400 F. I did not preheat the oven before preparation because I want the chicken to come to room temperature and this gives me 10 more minutes insurance for that.
*Place your chicken in the preheated oven for 1hr 15minutes.
*15 minutes prior to cooking time remove the potatoes
*Let the chicken rest about 5-10 minutes before you start carving. (To make sure your chicken is cook cut the side of the drumstick in between the thigh, if the juices runs out clear its the indication that it is done)

Sometimes I cook this together with ribs (just the tip ribs so it will cook together with the chicken) do not throw away the neck  you can also cook it in the side. (Well, maybe if you are not scared of eating it, you can also set it aside for stocks later)
You can roast carrots and turnips in the side as well.

Enjoy! Suggested wine: Pinot Noir from Oregon at least 3 years old.