Basic Roast Chicken

"This is a simple, easy recipe for roasting a whole chicken. It pretty much guarantees crisp salty skin, and properly cooked white AND dark meat at the same time. [This is from The Naked Chef (Jamie Oliver).]"
 
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photo by dividend photo by dividend
photo by dividend
Ready In:
1hr 20mins
Ingredients:
4
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Place your roasting pan in the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees.
  • Wash the chicken inside and out with cold water. Pat it as dry as possible with paper towels.
  • With a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 slashes across each of the thighs.
  • Rub the entire chicken, including the interior cavity, with olive oil, and then with salt and pepper.
  • Carefully separate the skin of the breast from the meat, and work some olive oil, salt, and pepper into the gaps with your hand.
  • Tuck the wings up under the back of the chicken. Cross the legs, and tie it up as tightly as possible with kitchen twine.
  • Pull the hot tray out of the oven, and place the chicken on it breast side down. Return to the oven and cook for 5 minutes.
  • Turn the chicken over onto the other breast, and cook another 5 minutes.
  • Turn the chicken on it's back, and cook for 1 hour.
  • Let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

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Reviews

  1. This was perfect!!! I needed a good, basic recipe for roasting chicken and this fit the bill. The meat was moist and tender, the skin crisp and salty, as advertised. DELICIOUS!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a programmer by day, bread baker by night. To make a living, I do process automation for management at an inbound call center. (It's really not as exciting as it sounds.) Actually, I enjoy my job. There are worse things I could be doing to finance my cooking / baking habits. I never really knew how to cook growing up. Some of you in the Breads and Baking forum have heard my disastrous story about making Nestle Toll House cookies... When I went to college and moved out of the dorms, I started to become interested in actually learning how to cook. I had a lactose intolerant boyfriend, and a limited budget, so it made sense to stop eating take-out pizza and Taco Bell every day. I have to credit The Dairy Free Cookbook by Jane Zukin as my first real guide. (I still cook out of it , even though the boyfriend is long gone!) With that as a start, I set about systematically teaching myself how to cook. Five years later, I'm getting a reputation from friends and family as being a good cook. I love baking bread from scratch (I could really become a sourdough freak - thanks Donna!) - I can't seem to make enough cinnamon raisin swirl to keep my mom and grandmother happy. I'm enjoying getting back to eating seasonally, eschewing over - processed prepared food in favor of simpler, healthier, better tasting, cheaper meals I make myself. When I set out to learn, I never imagined I'd be making stock, roasting whole chickens, baking bread, or shopping at our local farmer's market. Now I can't imagine going back to the way I used to eat. I hope someday to learn enough about bread baking to open a local bakery/cafe, somewhere in Westport or Downtown Kansas City. I love my city, and the kind of place I have in mind will be a place that gives back to the community. I want to leave this city a better place for my having been here. Here's my standard metric for how I review recipes here, because I want my reviews to be helpful and consistent: ***** Fantastic as is. Wouldn't change a thing and will make it often. 0**** Fantastic tweaked a little to suit my tastes. Will make it often. 00*** Had to tweak it alot to get something I would make again. 000** Not very good. May try tweaking it again at some point. 0000* Not good. Probably won't try making again, even with tweaks. <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/adopted_1_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting">
 
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