Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Yummmm......Baby!

Roast chicken and I have come a long way. My first experience with this wily fowl can be summed up in two words: Bloody Sunday. About 3 years ago I was living with a roommate who was a big fan of roasting chicken. He also was a big fan of being busy 24-7. One Sunday, he asked me if I could put the chicken he had bought into the oven for him around 5 pm because he would be at lacrosse. I’d never roasted a chicken before, but the directions were right on the plastic casing—how hard could it be?? So as the dinner hour neared, I took the chicken out and I was saddened to learn that we didn’t own a roasting pan! Always the problem solver, I stewed about this for a few minutes then called my mother. She told me I could de-bone the chicken and cook the pieces in sauce or pasta pot in the oven. Brilliant! Well as you might have guessed from the fact that I had never roasted a chicken before, I had never actually de-boned one either. And you can also imagine that if our sad little post-college apartment didn’t feature a roasting pan, well it certainly didn’t feature anything worth calling a butcher knife. I tried to de-bone the thing with a feckless butter knife, but I knew I was doomed.

So there I was, crying over bloody masticated breasts of a chicken that could barely be called a chicken anymore. I had hacked it apart to the point Jack the Ripper would have been impressed! So into the garbage the chicken went and I went to Whole Foods where I bought a substitute dinner of steaks so that my roomate wouldn’t move out after seeing what I had done to his 7 pound roaster. He laughed and patted my head where as I sought vengeance against all chicken from that day forward. There’s a lesson to be learned here kids; get a roasting pan!

Lo and behold, 3 years later, I do own a roasting pan (thanks Sis!) and I have become a roasting aficionado. I’ve tried every recipe known to the chicken cooking world. Joy of Cooking, Bobby Flay, Julia Child etc and so forth. Hands down Jamie Oliver’s recipe is the best, so I’ve featured that here. Make sure you have some sort of roasting pan (or do what I should have done back in 2007 and get a damn disposable one!).

The great thing about roasting a chicken is that the possibilities are endless. Immediately post roast, you are left with warm, succulent juicy chicken with the crispiest skin around; perfect for pairing with mashed potatoes or roasted veggies. When the chicken cools, the meat can be stripped to use in your lunch time salad or dinner time risotto or pizza. After you’ve picked the chicken clear of all edible meat, you can then store the carcass in a plastic bag in your freezer for a lazy Sunday. Just toss the carcass into a large pan with some onions, carrots, celery, salt and pepper and fill with water. Set over heat till it boils, then turn it down to a simmer. In a few hours you’ll have a delicious stock in which more great things can emerge; soups, risotto, sauces. The chicken is the gift that keeps on giving!

"Practically perfect in every way."--Mary Poppins

The Perfect Roast Chicken

Preheat oven to 475 F and make sure your oven racks are positioned to accommodate your bird.

Start with a good size bird, roughly 6 or 7 pounds. You can use organic, free range, Democratic, Republican....literally whatever you want. Rinse the bird and take out the bag inside full of all the innards.

Dry completely and stick on a rack, breast side up (this is the side with the pop-up timer) in your roasting pan. Cover your bird with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper and rub it all in. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, as you will really want to get into every crevice especially between the wings and legs. Make sure you wash your hands after each time you handle raw chicken. Flip over and repeat process on underside of bird. Don’t forget to salt and pepper the inside of the bird.

Next, take the following list of ingredients and stuff them inside the bird.

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed

1 onion, unpeeled but halved

1 lemon, halved and pricked

1 celery stick, cut into a few pieces

1 carrot, cut into a few pieces

A few sprigs of thyme, rosemary or whatever fresh herbs you have around

Now you’re ready to roast! Put bird into oven and turn down heat to 400 F. This is very important, as this change in temp makes for super crispy skin. Your bird should cook for about 1 hour and 20 minutes depending on the size. You’ll know it’s done if the leg easily separates from the body, and the juices run clear.