Buttery roast chicken with lemon and thyme

This recipe sort of puts stuffing ingredients between the chicken skin and meat rather than in the cavity.

Buttery roast chicken

From Boka restaurant in Chicago via Bon Appetit, May 2016

Ingredients

1½ cups butter (yes, three sticks!), room temperature, divided

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 3½- to 4-pound whole chicken

Method

Mix 2 sticks of butter with bread crumbs, thyme, zest and 1 tablespoon salt. Spread under chicken skin. Dot chicken with remaining butter. Sprinkle with more salt. Tie chicken legs together. Place on a rack placed on a rimmed baking sheet. Put in preheated 375-degree oven. Pour on enough water (at least a half cup, or more depending on the size of your pan) to keep the drippings from burning onto the pan. Bake for an hour or until done. Let stand a bit before slicing.

Rating: Perfectly fine. Dave liked the inverted stuffing effect. But I have to say, for that much butter, it didn’t really taste buttery, and I’ve made more sublime roast chickens. So while it’s easy enough, I don’t think this one enters the stable of roast chicken dinners, despite its lovely list of ingredients and a nice chicken from Hilltop. It was the last chicken left in our freezer from last year's farmers market, but the Midtown market reopens Saturday ...