Yesterday, I talked about Anthony Bourdain and his cooking virtues. Things everyone should know how to do.  One of the best ones in my opinion is that everyone should know how to roast a chicken. A basic roast chicken is relatively easy to do and comes out really delicious.  The best part is that you can cut up things like carrots or potatoes and dump them in the pan to cook with the chicken.  This way you can make a delicious meal in one pan and have less to clean up. Sounds virtuous to me!  Once you have it down, then you can experiment with different flavors for your chicken, or use different vegetables in the pan.  If you are ambitious, you can even use the chicken to create a whole different dish!

    The basic idea is to get a 4-6 lb bird. This can feed 4 people or two with some leftovers. It is best to give the bird some time outside of the refrigerator for a bit before you cook it to let it get closer to room temperature.  Sure, you do not want the chicken police to come and take you away!  Thomas Keller who is arguably the world’s best chef suggests you leave the bird out for an hour and a half. I understand though that on a work night you might not necessarily need the world’s best chicken and will settle for pretty damn good! Regardless, just ensure you do not take the bird directly from the fridge and put it in the oven.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

    Rinse the bird clean and then pat dry. Season the inside well with salt and pepper. I like a bit of a lemon flavor so I cut a lemon in half and place inside the bird.  Take a head of garlic, also cut it in half and place inside the bird. Then stuff the bird with a large bundle of thyme. The more the merrier. I also place a couple branches of whole rosemary.  The combination of these items will flavor your chicken beautifully.  It is best at this point to truss the chicken with butchers twine to ensure the bird cooks evenly. You can find many methods of doing this online or in books.

    For a great look and to crisp the skin slightly, I usually melt some butter in a pan and then brush onto the chicken. About a quarter stick of butter will be more then enough.  This will assist the chicken to brown nicely.  After brushing on the butter, season the entire chicken with salt and pepper. Your bird is now ready for the oven.

    If you are going to do vegetables, cut up some small red potatoes into quarters and place them around the chicken in the pan.  I usually cook my chicken in a rack on a roasting pan. When you do it this way, you can put vegetables right underneath the chicken.  Thomas Keller actually cooks his chicken in a large cast iron skillet and then places the vegetables around it.  In addition to the potatoes, carrots work great as well. Cut up about 4 carrots into pieces about the same size as the potatoes and add to the pan.  Take one yellow onion, or if you are in Texas a 1015 onion, and cut into large pieces and also add.  The onion will caramelize and add flavor to your veggies.  Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and season liberally with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme. 

    Place the chicken along with the vegetables in the oven at 425 degrees and cook for about an hour and a half.  Remove the chicken from the oven, and be sure to let it rest.  Resting time should be at least 10 minutes.  You will have a sophisticated, delicious, home cooked meal that can feed yourself, and at least a few others.  Along with it, may even come a sense of accomplishment.  You are now well on your way, to finding your inner foodie!



Perhaps not the best photography of a roasted bird, but this is a cooking blog and not a photography blog.
It sure tasted great and I think you get the idea!