How to make lemon-garlic-rosemary roast chicken

The secret to moist chicken (or any poultry) is brining. This is basically soaking the chicken in salt water for a few hours or even overnight. Fill a large pot with water....

Add salt - I'm using kosher salt because it's coarser which makes it dissolve better in water but less on the surface of the chicken.

Use 1.5-2 cups kosher salt per gallon of water. Or 1 cup of table salt to 1 gallon of water. You want enough water to cover the chicken. Stir well to dissolve the salt.

Put your chicken into the water. (Make sure you've removed the giblets from inside the chicken cavity!)

Cover and put into the refrigerator for a few hours or you can even let it sit overnight.

When you're ready to prepare the chicken, preheat the oven to 500°F. Dump out the water and pat dry the chicken.

Line a roasting or baking pan with foil. This is for easier clean up later.

I'm using a rack so that the skin of the chicken cooks evenly all around. But you can also place the chicken directly on the foil.

Slice up several clothes of garlic.

With your fingers separate the skin of the chicken from the meat. We're going to be putting some of our ingredients directly in here.

Slide your sprigs of fresh rosemary and slices of fresh garlic under the skin of the chicken. Put it in as far in as you can to cover as much of the chicken surface as you can.

Turn the chicken over and repeat this process on the other side, separating the skin from the meat and inserting the fresh sprigs of rosemary and slices of garlic.

Take a lemon and poke holes in it all over its surface.

Place the whole lemon along with some more slices of garlic and sprigs of rosemary in the cavity of the chicken.

Mix all the dry herbs and spices in a bowl (see the supplies list) - sage, oregano, paprika, rosemary, garlic powder, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Slice the second lemon into quarter slices and place those around on the outside of the chicken. Drizzle olive oil over the skin of the chicken and rub in to make sure it's completely covered.

Sprinkle the spice mixture over the whole chicken. You can also cut up potatoes, carrots and onions and place those around the chicken. Add water to the pan to cover the bottom surface.

Into the oven it goes! Cook the chicken for an hour or so (though this depends on the size of your chicken) until done. Use a meat thermometer if you have one - internal temperature of 180° F (82° C).

You can also tell it's done when the juices run clear or when you can cut between a leg & thigh. Remove from oven & let rest. And there you have it - delicious, moist and tasty roast chicken! Enjoy!