(for 4)

1 Large Chicken (Free Range if you can afford it)
60g (2 oz.) Butter
1 bunch Parsley (and or Tarragon, Chervil , Basil or Sorrel)
2 cloves of Garlic
Salt and black pepper..

Set the Oven to 190C, 375F, Gas 5.

Soften, but don’t melt the butter, chop the parsley or herbs finely and crush or finely chop the garlic.
Mix the herbs and garlic with the butter to form a soft paste.

Now very carefully from the neck side of the chicken push your hand between the skin and the flesh on both sides of the breast bone.
Be very careful not to rip the skin, (Ladies remove large diamond rings)
If you can, reach stretch your fingers over the legs of the chicken and release r the skin there too.
Now push a layer of the butter paste into the area between skin and flesh.
(You can smooth it out by patting the top of the skin)
Now put the chicken into the pre heated oven in a dish which it fits reasonably closely.
Cook the bird on one breast for twenty minutes then change it onto the other breast for a further twenty and then turn it on its back, breast up for the last twenty minutes.
At this stage the breast should be sufficiently brown so I pour a glass of water into the cooking dish, cover it roughly with foil and cook it like that for the last 20.
After this hour of cooking, test the chicken to make sure it is cooked through and then leave it somewhere warm to rest for about 20 minutes before carving.

Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and leave then rest with the chicken.
The fat will rise to the surface and can be discarded ( I keep most of these buttery juices in the sauce, that is a matter of taste)
Give these juices a boil, add water if sparse, and season with salt and pepper.
Carve the chicken and serve the sauce with it.

Serve with a green vegetable (spinach or Swiss chard are good) and potatoes.