Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze and fresh mint

Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze and fresh mint
From Barbara Kafka; Roasting a Simple Art.

1 bunch fresh mint
5-6lb chicken, wing tips removed
2 to 3 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
About 4 whole cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 1/2 cup seeds from 1 (or 2 small) large pomegranate
1/2 cup pomegranate juice from 1 large (or 2 small) pomegranate
1/2 cup of your favorite chicken stock
1. Place rack on second level from bottom of oven and heat oven to 500*.
2. Remove leaves from half of mint bunch, reserving stems.
Stack the leaves, roll, and cut them across into thin strips.
3. Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken.
Use livers, neck and giblet in stock.4. Place chicken breast side up in a 12x8x1 ½ inch roasting pan.
Sprinkle cavity with some of the salt and pepper and stuff with garlic, ½ cup pomegranate seeds, ½ bunch mint with leaves on, and reserved mint stems.
Pour ¼ cup of the pomegranate juice over chicken, Sprinkle with 1tsp salt.
Put chicken in oven, legs first.
Roast 50 minutes, moving the chicken after the first 10 minutes with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking.
The chicken should not burn, but if it smells like it is burning, reduce heat to
400* and open oven door for a minute to lower the temperature quickly.
Continue roasting at lower temperature.
5. Chicken will be a beautiful mahogany brown color, and any liquid will seem to have disappeared. Tilt the chicken over pan, and then remove the chicken to a platter.
6. Tilt roasting pan and spoon out fat, leaving any juices. Place pan over medium-high heat. Pour in the chicken stock and the last ¼ cup pomegranate juice. Scrape hard along the bottom of the pan. Use a wooden spoon to get all the good brown gunk up from the pan.
7. Add remaining mint leaves. Lower heat. Cook 1 minute. Taste carefully, liquid will be hot. Salt and pepper to taste. Add any juices that have collected on the platter. Cook liquid 30 seconds. Pour about half of the juices over bird on platter, being careful not to overflow platter.
Top with half of the juices over bird on platter, being careful not to overflow.

Top with half of the remaining pomegranate seeds. Put the rest of the juices in a sauceboat with the rest of the seeds. Mix well and serve with chicken.

To juice pomegranates: Cut pomegranates in half like oranges and use a citrus juicer holding the cut sides down firmly and moving the pomegranate half around to extract maximum juice from the seeds.
To seed pomegranates: Cut pomegranates into quarters. Using a small spoon, or your fingers, gently pull seeds away from hard skin. Seeds are bouncy but fragile. As seeds are pulled away, they will separate. Let them drop into a measuring cup. Continue until all seeds are removed. Pick off any white membrane clinging to seeds