I bought a chicken from Iowa Meat Farms on Saturday and tried out a couple of new things with it, thought you'd be interested...

I based what I did on Michael Ruhlman's Lemon Tarragon Brine Roast Chicken (he wrote that Charcuterie book i have) but not too closely... He brined his for 24 hours, I only brined mine for 1.5-2 hours, and because I had a lot of leftover tarragon and chives, i put them in my small food processor with 1/2 stick of butter and made a compound butter. after i pulled the chicken out, i put it on a plate with some paper towels, and let it dry a little bit. I put a shallot (halved) and 1/2 of a lemon (it was a giant lemon, so i cut the 1/2 into quarters) in the cavity. i sprinkled a few pinches of kosher salt on top of the bird, then i took half of the tarragon/chive butter and softened it in the microwave, then rubbed that inside the skin and on top of it.

He cooked his in a cast iron skillet, but I used a V-rack over a roasting pan, and put the bird in breast side down (i remember reading that this helps keep the breasts moist). I put some sliced potatoes in the roasting pan with a tiny bit of oil and some onion/garlic powder and a little salt & pepper, to catch the drippings, then put the whole thing in the oven (preheated - 450ish). i left it in there for 45 minutes, then turned it breast side up for 15 minutes or so (until the deep part of the breast was 150 degrees). Then I turned off the oven, left the door open for a minute, then put the plate with the chicken on it in there, tented with foil, and the door open, for 15 minutes.

I didn't make a gravy, but i feel like I should have... though the potatoes soaked up most of the juices, i think i'll leave them out next time, because they were good, but not as good as a gravy. perhaps i'll just put some carrots and celery and onion in the bottom of the pan next time... it was super moist, but you can never go wrong with, as Jamie Oliver says, a "cracking good gravy."