Many people recall the ritual of kapparot prior to Yom Kippur, to symbolically transfer one’s sins to a chicken that is then slaughtered and donated to the poor. I recently read in an article that scholars agree that the custom of eating chicken probably arose to dispense with the sinful kapparot chicken. So, here are some delightful recipes to try for the holiday.

Roast Herbed Chicken

4-6 servings

This recipe is from an unknown source, from 40 or more years ago on my index card:

• 3-pound chicken
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 Tablespoons melted, unsalted pareve margarine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon sage
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon basil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking pan.
2. Rinse and dry chicken. Rub skin with 1 cut garlic clove, then place it inside chicken with other cloves and bay leaves.
3. In a bowl, mix margarine with salt, pepper, thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram and basil. Place 1 tablespoon inside chicken, tie legs together, and place, breast side down, in baking pan. Brush the rest of the spiced mixture over the outside of the chicken. Bake in preheated 425 degree F. oven for 45 minutes. Turn chicken over. Bake 40-45 minutes longer.

Simplest Roast Chicken

6-8 servings

• 5-pound chicken
• 1 lemon cut in half
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 Tablespoon unsalted pareve margarine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chicken soup water or wine

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Grease a roasting pan.
2. Remove excess fat, neck, gizzards and liver for another use. Combine lemon, garlic, margarine, salt and pepper in a bowl and stuff inside the chicken.
3. Place chicken breast side up in a baking pan with legs facing the back of the oven. Roast 10 minutes then move with a wooden spoon to keep it from sticking. Continue roasting 40-50 minutes.
4. Tilt chicken to get juices into the roasting pan. Remove chicken. Put juices in a pan, add soup, water or wine and bring to a boil. Reduce liquid by half. Serve sauce in a bowl or pour over chicken.

Chicken With Dressing

4-6 servings

This was a favorite of my mother’s (a”h), also over 40 years old.

• 5-pound chicken
• Salt to taste
• ¾ teaspoon ginger
• 1 sliced onion
• ½ cup celery
• Your favorite stuffing
• ¾ cup boiling water
• 4-6sliced potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a roasting pan.
2. Sprinkle chicken cavity with salt and ginger. Place in roasting pan. Stuff with your favorite stuffing. Add onion and celery. Roast in 400 degree F. oven for 20 minutes.
3. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake 20 minutes more. Add boiling water and potatoes and continue baking one and a half hours more.

Sybil Kaplan is a Jerusalem-based journalist, author and compiler/editor of 9 kosher cookbooks. She is a food writer for North American Jewish publications, and she leads walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.