roasted chicken with rosemary: transition

You would think by now I would be settling in here after two months, but my head stubbornly refuses to re-set my compass :  I wake up not quite sure where I am in my long life of places:  for a few seconds I am 10, sharing a bedroom with my little sister in Pascagoula, Mississippi - and next I'm looking down at one of my babies, who are now parents themselves. I hear my father's voice halloooing as he meets my car on the island:  this morning I heard a ship's bell clanging in the fog on a tiny harbor in Maine we stayed at for a few days long ago - it was the light rail just outside my window, here in Minnesota.  I know where I am physically, but the years and places tumble gently in my waking up bubble.  I think to pick some mint and thyme from the herb border beside the front door, then remember I'm on the fifth floor in a midwestern city, with no garden (yet), with a houseful of family.  

For someone who's been solitary for a long, long time, it's a transition that is taking a little too long for my patience.  But yesterday, I finally made the famous roasted -chicken- with- rosemary and thyme with 9 year old Izzie by my side, watching - and tomorrow, a birthday cake for my dearest firstborn - and let's hope it kickstarts the creative (and culinary) juices flowing.  And guess what I found just down the street yesterday morning?  A little garden center crowded with plants and herbs:  a two foot rosemary plant that now sits on the window sill, minus a few branches for this chicken.


Roasted Chicken with rosemary and thyme

Preheat oven to 350F.

1 good sized chicken to serve 6 people
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided into 2 portions
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 of a lemon
1 teaspoon whole thyme leaves
several springs of fresh rosemary
freshly cracked pepper

Wipe out the inside of the chicken with a paper towel.  Squeeze the lemon over the outside of the chicken, then place the lemon inside the cavity of the chicken.   Add 1 tablespoon of the butter inside the cavity as well.  Add several sprigs of rosemary inside the chicken, then rub the outside of the chicken with the remaining butter.  Sprinkle the chicken with the thyme and kosher salt and fresh pepper.

Place chicken in preheated oven and roast for 1 and a half hours, or until chicken is golden and the chicken legs move easily when wiggled.  Remove the chicken to cool for 15 minutes, then tip the chicken and collect some of those wonderful juices to drizzle over the chicken before slicing.( P.S.:  Save the bones and trimmings and juices for an over-the-moon roasted chicken stock!)

I served this with wilted spinach and kale, and boiled quartered new potatoes with lots of butter and pepper - what a wonderful supper!  And dessert was those wonderful tiny clementines found at Trader Joe's (from Chile) - juicy, easy to peel, and the perfect size for 2 year old Noah, though I go through three at a sitting, they are so good!

Happy almost September!