Ingredients 1 medium whole British chicken 6 heads of garlic salt and pepper 4 sprigs thyme 2 lemons Top tip: To reduce the fat content, remove the skin from the chicken before eating Method 1 Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / gas mark 5. 2 Leave 4 heads of garlic whole and peel and slice the remaining cloves into slivers. 3 Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. 4 Gently pull the skin away from the breast and slide in 2 of the thyme sprigs. Use a knife to make 6 small slits in the chicken breast and carefully spear 6 garlic slivers into the slits. 5 Tuck the lemons, the remaining thyme and a few garlic slivers into the cavity and place the chicken in a roasting tin. Scatter the remaining garlic heads around the chicken. 6 Place chicken in the oven and roast for 20 minutes per 500g plus 10-20 minutes extra. The juices should run clear when the chicken thigh is pierced. If not, cook further. 7 Serve the chicken surrounded by the roast garlic heads.

Smear honey over the skin and squirt lots of lemon juice over before cooking. Its lovely.

Stuff the inside of the chicken with several cloves of garlic, a few ribs of celery, carrots, and half a stick of butter (the butter will melt out during cooking and you can baste the chicken with it) Rub the entire skin of the chicken with some minced garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Drizzle with a little olive oil to brown the skin. When there is about 40 minutes of cooking time left, start basting the chicken with the drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste every ten minutes until the chicken is done. Don't remove the skin, either, that's the best part =)

Very often it is the quality of the chicken that makes the biggest difference. Chickens at the store have really gone downhill. I thought I would never taste a good chicken until we raised our own. First off, buy a real roast chicken, at least 6-8 pounds, not a fryer. They just haven't lived long enough to have flavor. Then if you can get a fresh chicken, one that hasn't ever been frozen or near frozen or even organic, that will taste better. And before you roast it, try brining it before you cook it. That will insure it will be as moist as possible. Then when you roast it, you might try rubbing some herbal butter or lemon, maple syrup or honey butter between the skin and the breast. Give him a good massage with that. Thyme, sage, and rosemary work well with poultry. Cooking at a very high heat, like 500° for a short period of time guarantees tender and juicy. YOur kitchen will smoke up but the bird will be great :-)

here a helpful idea for roasting chicken. stuff the inside of the bird with: any fresh herbs you have - such as thyme, rosemary, mint, or basil add quarted of each - one lemon, lime, orange to the inside cavity then: place rack into roasting pan and water to the bottom but not so much that it will touch the bird. add celery ribs and any left over citrus you have on top of the rack & the bird on top of that. adding water to the bottom of your roasting pan will bring moisture to your dry oven. soften butter in extra virgin olive oil and slather on the bird. add salt and pepper to taste, and any herbs that you want. roast as usual in your oven - browning the chicken first on high heat, check water level if low add more. when chicken is browned well, if you have left over butter & olive oil drizzle remainder on top of bird, cover with foil and lower heat until done. make sure to keep an eye on the water level when roasting. make sure you let the bird rest before cutting into, but pierce the inside of leg to make sure the juices are clear so that you know its cooked through. if you want, you can pull a couple pieces of the citrus out when it is done and squeeze with tongs over the bird for added flavor before it complete cools down.