Recipes

[IamMrsG]

With all the posts I've seen lately about roasting chicken, I thought I'd share the method, by Thomas Keller, that I prefer. It is:

Simple Roast Chicken

One 2-to 3-pound chicken

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

Unsalted butter

Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird.

To salt the chicken — let it rain all over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan and put the chicken in the preheated oven. Leave it alone — don't baste it, don't add butter. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Serve with butter and the Dijon mustard (for spreading on at the table), and be prepared for a major treat. Crusty bread, maybe a light salad and white wine is all you need to round out the meal.

Note: The first time I followed this method, the pan I used was not very deep, so I experienced a lot of splatter and smoke. This chicken was so delicious it didn't matter. I have even used this method for roasting a Thanksgiving turkey!