Roast chicken

Tuesday 20 April

Barbara was working at home, and the weather was a mite chilly, so a roast chicken was the perfect dinner. Since the herbs are so fresh and juicy in the garden, she skipped the canonical lemon and stuffed it with a sheaf of chervil, parsley, and lemon balm, with chopped tarragon leaves under the skin of the breast. And then, since she really wanted a crispy skin, she rubbed it all over with softened butter, and put it on a rack in a 450-degree oven for 10 minutes while she prepared the shallots, carrots, and waxy new potatoes to throw in the pan around it. Once the vegetables were tossed with olive oil and salt and went in the pan, the heat was reduced to 350. And by the time Holt got home, an hour later, there it was.