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1
cut up your butter into 8 or 10 equal pieces and leave on cutting board to come to room temperature.
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2
in your food processor add herbs, garlic, serrano and pulse until it's a fine mince. scrape down sides and pulse again. w/ processor on add olive oil & salt.
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3
add your room temperature butter and pulse until it turns a bright green, again scrape down sides and pulse again. room temperature butter produces the best butter as it's stable, full of buttery flavor and easy to clean up.
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4
once your butter is made, put it in a glass covered tupperware in the fridge, it will last 3 months covered & cold. separate 1/2 cup for the chicken.
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5
preheat oven to 425.
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6
wash and dry chicken w/ a clean dish towel. tuck your chicken's wings behind it's back and insert the 2 lemon halves in it's cavity. liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken, add a good lump of the herb butter and using the twine truss your chicken
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7
how to truss a whole chicken: http://www.chow.com/food-news/53715/how-to-truss-a-chicken/
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8
now the fun part. go to town on the chicken w/ the herb butter, separate the skin just below the breast on the top half of the chicken and add lots of butter. coat the thighs, the back, the legs, the wings, the top of the breasts, the inside of the neck. fold the neck or cut away if it's too bulky.
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9
once your chicken looks bright green like it's been attacked by a monster, you know it's ready. liberally salt the bird, i'd say about 1/2 TBSP but it depends on the bird.
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10
breast side down, on a roasting pan it goes (add your favorite menagerie of root vegetables to the bottom of the roasting pan, they will be more indulgent then your ever indulgent bird).
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11
cook the bird, back side up for 15 minutes to crisp up the back skin on the bird. remove the bird and lower the oven to 375.
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12
carefully flip the bird, i use a pair of tongs and a wooden spoon i insert in the neck of the bird. it may be a two person job at first.
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13
once the bird is nicely placed in the pan. add it back to the 375 preheated oven. most roasted chicken recipes read around 20 minutes per pound. but the last three times i've made this bird it's been more like 13.33 minutes per pound including the 15 back browning bit). meaning cook the bird for another 45 minutes. undisturbed.
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14
if roasting root vegetables along with the chicken, no need to butter or oil them, the drippings will coat them with love. you can toss them both when you flip the bird and when you take the bird out. i usually put them back in for around 15 minutes to get them a bit crispy and extra delicious.
