Roast a Chicken, Build a Geodome

After shooting myself up with fertility drugs that sent my hormones through the roof, you'd think that I'd be in the clear when they put me back on birth control pills. Not so! I was a quaking paranoid mess for a few days there and it wasn't until Cameron took me by the shoulders Sunday and said "It is the birth control pills, call the doctor right now," that I considered this a serious explanation for the headaches, dizziness, nausea, and true depression. They switched me to a different kind with less than progesterone and, voila! Normal. In the three days since I have emerged from the cascade of weird physical shit I have endured in the last month, I managed to put together a climbing dome made out of pvc pipe that we inherited from a friend, open up all of the plum mess that was my first attempt at plum jelly, doctor it up and can it again, and now I have plum jelly! For real! I also made it back to my beloved Zumba class, came up with a recipe for pesto macaroni and cheese that was ok and roasted a chicken. At the request of my brother in law, here is how I roast chicken.

How to Roast a Chicken 
(Inspired by Alice Waters)

I like to use free range organic chickens, between four and six pounds.

Step 1: The rub
24 hours to 1.5 hours before cooking, rub that puppy down. I generally put in a bowl 2 tablespoons salt and one tablespoon garlic pepper. Massage that little chicken like you are rubbing lotion into its skin. The closer to cooking time you are, the more salt you can use. Place it into the pan in which it will cook. You want the pan to be about the size of the chicken so that it's wings can stay sort of tucked in and the whole chicken can keeps it's juice closer to it's body. If you are planning to tuck any potatoes around the chicken, you can use a larger pan. If you are less than two hours away from cooking time,  just leave the chicken out.

Step 2: Bring chicken to room temperature
You want the chicken to be room temperature when it goes into the oven, which means it needs to sit our for an hour or so before it cooks.  Keep the chicken lightly covered, with a clean dish towel, paper towel, or loose saran wrap.

Step 3: Cook
Preheat the oven to 400. If you are going to surround the bird with any vegetables, now is the time to arrange that. Once the oven is hot, place your chicken in there, chest down and let cook for 20 minutes. After that, flip the bird chest side up and cook for another 20. After that, check the temperature with an internal meat thermometer. The breast should be 165. if the bird is not cooked enough, flip back over so the chest is down, and check the temperature every 10 or fifteen minutes. In my oven on aero bake, which is a convection setting, it takes just about 45 minutes to roast a bird.