Roast Chicken

(This was inspired by a recipe from Serious Eats which adapted it from Roast Chicken and Other Stories, by Simon Hopkinson with Lindsey Bareham.)

Ingredients

Star Margarine
1 whole chicken
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Procedure

1. Preheat oven. Use your hands to smear the Star Margarine all over the chicken. Season liberally with parsley, salt and pepper. Place chicken in a roasting pan with enough room to spare. Place the extra herbs and garlic inside the chicken's cavity.

2. Roast in oven 10 to 15 minutes. Baste, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Roast for one hour and 45 minutes (my oven is gas fuelled). Occasionally baste it with a mixture of olive oil and honey. Chicken should be golden brown all over with a crisp skin and have juices of a brown color in the bottom of pan.

3. When cooked, allow chicken to rest at least 15 minutes before carving. Cover with aluminum foil. This allows the flesh to relax and retain the juices, resulting in easier carving and moist meat.

4. The resulting juices serves as a gravy. Heat the drippings. Add cornstarch. Then add broth or water slowly, while consistently stirring until thick. Season with salt and pepper.

P.S. I poured white wine into the pan at the beginning of roasting. This will give you more of a sauce. You can also add chopped tomatoes, cream, diced bacon, a variety of herbs, mushrooms, vegetables, or whatever else you'd like. In my case, I added celery to ensure moistness and flavor.