As summer winds down, anyone with an herb garden will find themselves with an overwhelming supply of herbs to be used up before autumn.  Most basil will have flowered and should have been already turned into pesto.  Now is the time to gather up the last of the parsley for tabbouleh.  Other herbs can be dried, preserved in salt or oil or frozen into ice cubes. My oregano plant has tripled in size since it was planted last summer and I have a large amount of leaves to still use up.  Like most of my other herbs, it has already flowered to some degree and is a bit too strongly flavoured to toss into a salad.  A better use for it is to use it with roasted meat or vegetables.  Halving the chicken makes it cook much faster.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

 
1 small roasting chicken

2 lemons, one juiced and one sliced

4-6 cloves of garlic

Several large sprigs of oregano from the garden

3-4 russet potatoes, chopped into roughly 2 inch cubes

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions 

 
Preheat the oven to 400 F.  With kitchen shears and a sturdy cleaver, cut the chicken in half following the backbone and breastbone.  Use the scissors for cutting through meat and the cleaver when you hit the bones.  Tuck the wings underneath themselves to avoid burning.  Salt and pepper both sides of the meat before putting it in the pan.  Smash the garlic cloves (don't bother peeling) lightly and sprinkle them around the chicken with the oregano, lemon slices and potatoes.  I left much of the oregano on the stem for easy removal after cooking.  Generously pour over some olive oil (about 4 tbs) along with the remaining lemon juice.  Roast for 35 to 45 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown and completely cooked.  Juices should run clear and a thigh bone should be easy to twist and remove.