Butter-Roasted Chicken

• 2 small chickens, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds each
• 4 teaspoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut the wing tips off the chickens with sharp kitchen scissors.
3. Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast of each bird to form 4 pockets.
4. Rub 1 teaspoon of the butter into each pocket.
5. Sprinkle the salt and pepper all over the skin and inside the cavities.
6. Place the leeks and the lemon slices in the cavities.
7. Place the chickens on a rack in a roasting pan.
8. Roast for 15 minutes.
9. Turn the oven down to 375 degrees.
10. Baste the chickens well.
11. Continue roasting until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork in the thickest part of the thigh, about 1 1/2 hours, basting every 15 minutes.
12. Let stand for 10 minutes before carving into serving pieces.

chickens, unsalted butter, salt, freshly ground pepper, leeks, lemon

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5267 (may not work)