Simple Roasted Chicken

A simple roasted chicken is one of the easiest meals to make!  This pasture-raised chicken is from Autumn’s Harvest Farm, and it’s the perfect pairing with early summer salads, like this radish salad.  I’ve made roasted chicken a variety of ways, and Thomas Keller’s version is hand down my favorite.  There’s no stuffing, or basting, just 3 ingredients.  Salt, pepper, chicken.  Roasted at high temperature it comes out moist and crispy every time.  Start by letting the chicken sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature, about 45 minutes.  Cut off any excess skin around the neck and dry thoroughly inside and out.  Whenever I’m seasoning a chicken, I always combine the salt and pepper in a small bowl so I can season without stopping to wash my hands and get more ingredients.

Start by seasoning the inside of the chicken, then tie the chicken so the legs and wings are tucked in.  There are lots of ways to truss a chicken, I just place the middle of a long piece of twine at the neck of the chicken, then pull it forward so the wings are tucked in.  Wrap it around the legs crisscrossing it, and then tying.  If you want to get more formal there are lots of videos to help you.  Mainly, since this is a high temp roast, you just want the legs and wings tucked in so they don’t cook to fast and dry out.

You can use a traditional roasting pan, or if you have a cast iron skillet I love this meat trivet for roasting meat.  It’s a really inexpensive way to get more use out of a pan you already have.  Place the trivet in the pan and put the chicken on top.  You can also add root vegetables like potatoes, turnips, carrots, radishes, and parsnips around the chicken or roast alone.  Bake for 50-60 minutes at 450F.  Chicken is done when reaches an internal temp of 165F or juices run clear.  This very high temperature can cause the kitchen to get a little smoky.  Use a clean oven and turn on the fan while roasting.

Simple Roasted Chicken adapted from Thomas Keller

1 3 – 5 lb chicken (cooking time will be longer for a 5 lb bird, Keller recommends smaller ones)

salt + pepper

kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 450F.  Thoroughly dry a room temperature chicken.  Season inside with salt and pepper, then use cooking twine to truss the chicken.  Place the middle of the twine at the neck, and bring the ends forward tucking in the wings.  Cross at the legs and tie tightly.  Season outside of the chicken with lots of salt and pepper.

Bake chicken.  50 – 60 minutes (10 or so minutes more for a larger bird),  until chicken reaches internal temp of 165F or juices run clear.