Recipe: Roast Chicken with Basil, Scallion, Lemon Butter, and Potatoes

Last week, in his review of Twelve Recipes, a new cookbook from Chez Panisse chef Cal Peternell, Sam Sifton wrote, "Rare is the cookbook that acknowledges the simple truth that there aren’t really all that many recipes in the world." Within this essential dozen, there's one dish that we agree is worth mastering: the roast chicken.

If you don't have chef Peternell's book, this recipe from Mindy Fox's A Bird in the Oven and Then Some is another useful rubric. Like Peternell, Fox roasts her bird at a steady 450ºF.

Get the recipe here.