un-f-up-able (ineffable?) roast chicken

for the last 3 weeks, i've roasted a chicken on sunday nights. the first weekend, we had it for dinner (with herbed red potatoes and sugar snap peas); these past two weekends, i've used the chicken during the week for lunch (sandwiches, salads, etc.) and for dinner (pot pie, enchiladas, panini). all 3 times, i've used the leftover carcass (with wings still attached... imo, wings don't have enough meat to make it worthwhile to wrestle off) to make stock.

i brine it overnight with whatever i happen to have on hand, which works out well when there are random extras (e.g., kumquats...don't ask - an "impulse" buy at the farmer's market. no, i *said* don't ask.) that i'm not sure what to do with. i then roast it with a cut up lemon (or, um, kumquats like i did this past weekend...no, DON'T!) tucked inside. brining pretty much not only guarantees you can't f*** up the chicken, but it also gives it great flavor. recipe is below.

feel free to have fun with what you put into the brine. like i said, i just throw in whatever "aromatics" i think might make the meat tasty. this also works really well with turkey (you just need to make ~4x more of it and use a bucket [i'm serious! i have one expressly for turkey brining. ok, i'm kidding, not like that one; like this one.] instead of a large bowl).

Caroline's Favorite Honey-Brined Roast Chicken
1 chicken (i usually get one that's just under 4 lbs)
1 quart hot water
1 quart cold water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup honey (or sometimes i use dark brown sugar)
1 lemon, quartered
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with flat of knife
1-2 sprigs thyme
1-2 sprigs rosemary
handful of whole rainbow peppercorns

1 lemon, quartered
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
2 tbsp olive oil

Rinse chicken and place in bowl large enough to hold both it and 2 quarts of water (remember the chicken displaces the water, so make sure the bowl is big enough). Add quart of cold water to bowl. In quart of hot water, add honey and salt; stir until completely dissolved. Add this brine to bowl. Place rest of the ingredients into bowl, squeezing lemon quarters before adding to brine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 450 deg. Remove chicken from brine (discard brine) and pat dry. Place in small roasting pan (I actually use an Emile Henry oval baker; it fits perfectly and cleanup is really easy.); squeeze lemon juice and place lemon rinds and onion into chicken cavity. Tie legs together and tuck wing tips under to prevent scorching. Drizzle olive oil and rub evenly over whole chicken (although don't worry about the underside).

Roast chicken for half hour at 450 deg. Reduce heat to 375 deg and bake until thickest part of thigh reaches 170 deg. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes if serving right away, or let cool completely and then take apart (as this is a good way to avoid working with super hot chicken that burns burns burns). Serves 4.