The Joys of Roast Chicken

I make a killer roasted chicken. This may sound boastful, but it is true. Of course I can't claim to have discovered anything special here. Anyone can make a killer roasted chicken, just follow Thomas Keller's recipe which you can find here: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/kellers_roast_chicken/
I think Roasted chicken is one of the few perfect meals. When done properly, it is simple, hearty and a beautiful thing to look at. You can vary the herbs, the vegetables, the sauce, but in almost every form it is a real pleasure to eat. The one thing that you cannot skimp on however, is the chicken. I started roasting chickens in the US with your standard Purdue, steroid altered franken-bird. I then progressed to nice, small, free range chickens and I thought that they were pretty good. Then I moved to Europe. The chicken's here, like food in general, are better. I just finished roasting up a free-range french bird from about 70 miles away from my home and it was in a word, awesome. The bird was denser than the chickens in the US. Heavy for its size. It was obvious that the Bell and Evans "free range" birds that I had purchased in the US had not seen the kind of activity that this bird did. The meat had texture and real flavor, but was not tough. I seasoned it liberally with sea salt, put a little butter under the skin of the breast and filled the cavity with Taragon. For the vegetables, we had potato, whole shallot, mushrooms and carrots. All roasted with the bird with a little sea salt, pepper and dried thyme. We also had a nice side salad with a homemade vinagrette. To accompany, a nice French Sancerre. As I said, anyone can make a killer roasted chicken, so there is no excuse. I find a few things make a big difference:

1. Get the best chicken you can find. Prefereably free range and NEVER Purdue. (Purdue is Evil and you dont want that bad Karma in your food)
2.Do not buy a bird larger than 4 pounds. Small birds are best. I like between 3 and 4 pounds. (See note above. Franken-birds are the product of a malevolent force and should be avoided at all costs)
3. Season the bird liberally. This means salt &pepper. Do not skimp. Half will fall off anyway. Screw the cardiologists and health nazis. Nobody wants to live forever.
4. Truss the bird. It is not hard. Ruhlman can show you how: http://ruhlman.com/2010/07/how-to-truss-a-chicken.html
5. Dont tart it up. There is no point in guilding this lilly. Taragon, rosemary, sage, lemon, thyme, oregano are all acceptable herbs. There is no need for a 30 herb component blend from Whole Foods. Keep it simple.
6. Start the bird in a HOT oven 475 for the first 30 minutes. Then back it down to 375-400. (At this temp a 4 pound bird is done in 90 minutes and is juicy and deliciious)
Enjoy