Roasted Chicken

I believe this makes the 3rd roasted chicken I've blogged about. There's a reason for that, they are simple and delicious!!!

This roasted chicken is Thomas Keller's recipe. I saw him make this bird on the Techniques episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and it looked so incredible that my husband paused the show, looked at me and said

"Can you make that?"
"Yeah I can make that!"
"Then go do it woman! Do it!"

It took me a few weeks to get around to roasting the bird for the husband but I did. And boy oh boy, am I ever glad I did!! It was so easy to prepare - and cooked in less than an hour. Thomas Keller is a cooking god for a reason, after all, and Mr. French Laundry did not disappoint with this bird.

The preparation is easy for this bird: pat dry, truss and salt liberally. Roast in a 450 oven in a skillet and that's it my friends. The extreme heat of the oven liquefies the subcutaneous fat from the skin and literally deep fries itself. The skin is crispy and delicious. I am a Witch that will always pass up chicken skin, its pretty gross to me. But this chicken skin, well it was crispy, not flabby at all, golden browned and kissed with herbs. Total and complete witch craft.

Roasted Chicken
by Thomas Keller
serves 4
1 roasting chicken, 3-4 lbs
lots of kosher salt
few grinds of pepper
1-2 sprigs thyme

Wash chicken, removing giblets and neck. Pat chicken very dry with paper towels inside & out. You want this bird dry, the less it steams the better the result will be.

Truss the chicken. If you need instructions on how to truss let the Witch know.

Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt liberally. I mean lots of it, like 1T worth. Sprinkle from high above the bird, it creates a better scatter pattern on the meat and you get better coverage. The salt is important in flavoring the chicken as well as the crispy skin so don't skimp! Cover all sides of chicken with salt, add salt & pepper to the cavity as well.

Put the chicken in a skillet and roast at 450 for 45-60 minutes, or until the dark meat temperature reads 180*F. Remove chicken from pan, sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and allow to rest for 5-15 minutes before carving.



You can make a pan gravy from the drippings if you wish, simply bring the drippings to a boil and whisk well to loosen the fond from the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 c chicken stock and allow to reduce. Add 1t lemon juice and 2T butter to the reduced sauce. Serve with the chicken.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 226.0
Total Fat 4.4 g
Saturated Fat 1.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g
Cholesterol 129.2 mg
Sodium 145.4 mg
Potassium 478.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.0 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 43.6 g