This is adapted from Jamie Oliver's first cookbook, the ‘Naked Chef.’ Jamie calls this his "perfect roast chicken" and I'd love to hear if you agree. And let me just say that if you're single, don't be afraid to take the time to cook yourself a nice meal.  This is about treating yourself as well as you'd treat someone you want to impress. So break out the prettiest plates (or if you're a guy, your cleanest), buy a nice 1/2 bottle of wine and put on some fun music (I like DJ Rekha's new Basement Bhangra CD. Someone very special is coming to dinner - and it's you.

Jamie Oliver's Perfect Roast Chicken

Serves 4

One 2 1/2 to 3 lb free range chicken

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 small handfuls of fresh herbs (basil, parsley and cilantro - or the three freshest herbs you can find)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon, halved

4 bay leaves, torn

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven and a roasting tray to 425 deg F. Wash the chicken inside and out and pat it as dry as possible with paper towels. Rub the cavity with salt and then, being very careful, grab the skin at the tip of the chicken breasts, and making sure that it doesn't rip, pull up gently. With your other hand, gently separate the skin from the meat of the ***.  Sprinkle a little salt down the gaps and push in the chopped herbs. (My husband likes to add diced bacon stuffed under the skin, but I know how some of y'all are about pork so do what you like.)

Drizzle in a little olive oil. Cut the lemon in half, and stick it in the open cavity, fill the cavity with generous amounts of salt and rosemary.  Pull the skin of the chicken *** forward so that none of the flesh is exposed, tuck the winglets under and tie up as firmly as possible with kitchen twine.

Make three deep cuts in each thigh and rub in the leftover herbs. Rub a little olive oil into the skin of the chicken and season very generously with salt and pepper.  It seems hard to believe but it's hard to over salt a roast chicken.

Remove the hot tray from the oven and add a little olive oil. Put the chicken on one side, *** side down, on the tray and put it back in the oven.  Cook for five minutes and then repeat with the other side, cooking it for five minutes so both breasts are crispy. Remove, place the chicken on its back and cook for one hour.

We like to serve this with blue cheese mashed potatoes.  Make the mash as you usually would then throw in a quarter cup of blue cheese per serving.  One note, while it's hard to over salt the chicken, it is easy to ruin these potatoes because of the saltiness of the cheese.