What's the best meal you ever made? Post recipes here!

It's love on a plate! They take fifths! Everyone compliments you! Which meal inspires

this kind of devotion?

Here's mine:

Herb Roasted Chicken (courtesy Tyler Florence

of the Food Network (www.foodtv.com , although I have modified the recipe a

bit)

INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken, medium-sized (I used a 6 1/2 pound one)
1 cup

margarine or butter (either softened or melted)
1/2 lemon
1/2 medium-sizen sweet Spanish or Vidalia onion
5 or 6

cloves of garlic or a tablespoon of powdered garlic
parsley to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Rinse

chicken inside and out and remove the guts. Tuck the wing ends under (under the underarms). Place on a roasting rack or

triangle in a metal roasting pan.
Take the seeds out of the lemon half and stuff it into the bird.
Take the skin off

the onion half and stuff it into the bird.
Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and, you guessed it, stuff into the bird

(if you're using garlic powder, just spoon it right into the cavity).
Mix the margarine or butter with the parsley.


If the butter (or margarine) is soft, use a butter spreader. If it's melted, use a pastry brush. Either way, you want to

coat the top of the bird with the mixture. Be sure to get under the wings and on the sides. You don't need to flip the bird

over to get the bottom.
Place in the oven.
Cook at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and

cook 15 - 20 minutes per pound. I cooked the 6 1/2 pound bird for about 2 hours at this temperature. When one hour of cooking

time remains, rotate the roasting pan 180 degrees for more even cooking.
For the last hour or so, check the bird every

fifteen minutes. If it has a self-timer, use that as your gauge for when the chicken is done. If not, use an instant-read

thermometer or do the 'handshake' test (e. g. try to 'shake hands' with one of the legs. The leg should pull away freely

if the bird is cooked). Also, cut deeply into the breast and make sure the meat is white all the way through. If it's pink

anywhere, keep the bird in for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and wait about 10 minutes before

carving.

Side dishes can be anything; usually potatoes or rice plus some sort of green vegetable.

The pan

drippings, mixed with flour, make an excellent (although fatty) gravy.

Vary the spices if you wish. I didn't use any

salt and pepper (the margarine I use has a little salt, as do many brands of butter). The original recipe calls for fresh

thyme and parsley to be stuffed into the bird. You could also vary the citrus and instead go with an orange (probably an

orange quarter, given the standard size of this fruit) if you want a sweeter meal. I suppose you could also use shallots

instead of onion.