This is one of those dishes that I just always assumed was super hard. So let me be the first to say, I was totally wrong. It’s so easy to make. And it’s great to have in the winter, when you could use a little warming up and the smell of rosemary filling the kitchen.
Ingredients
1 full chicken (I got mine at Trader Joe’s)
1 lemon
1 handful of rosemary
1 onion
1/2 cup of wine, optional
Salt and pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the chicken off (inside and outside), and dispose of the giblets.
2. Set your chicken on a cutting board. Dribble some lemon juice in the front under the skin and then place half of the lemon inside. Set aside the other half. Place some rosemary under the skin and the rest inside. Place half the onion inside the chicken and set the rest aside.
3. Set the chicken in a pot (you could use a dutch oven or other big pan), and fill the bottom with water. Place the other half of the lemon and onion in the pot. If you want, place some wine in the pot as well. Grind salt and pepper on top of the chicken and in the water around the base of the chicken.
4. Cook the chicken in your heated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes. It’ll be done once you can pierce it with a fork and the juice runs clean (it should also feel firm, and the meat should look white).
5. Enjoy with your favorite vegetables, rice, or mashed potatoes.
the petite croissant 
I LOVE roasting a chicken. One of my favorite cookbooks is All About Roasting by Molly Stevens. She goes into a lot of technical (but still accessible) aspects, such as why you should hesitate before rinsing – cooking at the correct temp will kill anything on there, and you’re more likely to spread salmonella around your kitchen by rinsing (where you won’t see where it ends up and won’t necessarily be killed). I don’t use water in the pot but one of her tips is great – if you roast your chicken on top of thick onion and lemon slices, the chicken doesn’t sit in its juices/air circulates underneath the chicken, crisping the skin. This book is really terrific, and you’re totally right – roasting a whole chicken is so easy and always tasty, even if simply seasoned.