Roast Chicken with Golden Beets and Vidalia Onions

ingredients
1 medium fryer chicken (about three pounds)
3 sprigs of rosemary
6 T unsalted butter, divided
2 sweet onions, quartered
3 golden beets, quartered
2 shallots, peeled and halved
8 whole garlic cloves, peeled
salt and pepper

directions
Preheat oven to 475° F.  Put 4 tablespoons of butter in a microwave safe bowl and nuke for 40 seconds at medium power (or until melted).  Strip rosemary leaves into butter and let sit until use. 

Strew onions and beets in the bottom of a roasting pan. Remove gizzards from cavity, wash chicken and pat dry.  (Add gizzards to roasting pan if desired.)  Stuff chicken with garlic cloves and shallots.  Tie wings together, tuck legs under, and rest chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan.  Baste with rosemary-butter mixture and pop in the oven for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in similar fashion to before.  Pull the chicken from the oven taking care not to let much heat escape, and baste with second batch of butter, allowing the greasy goodness to spill onto the veg.  Restore to oven and let roast, undisturbed for an additional hour.  Inhale aroma, carve and serve.

notes
If desired, reserve the carcass and bones for stock.  Simply dump remains into a stock pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for three or four hours, occasionally skimming off the bubbles.