For the Love of Roast Chicken

I think I must have been bad this year or something, because Santa is out to get me. His new version of coal in your stocking is to give you tons of great gifts that you can't use. I've had to exchange 4 gifts that were broken or weren't the right size. And I lost a card with a check in it…for the second year in a row. No wonder Santa has me on his naughty list! Regardless, I had an amazing Christmas with my family. A white Christmas! We woke up Christmas morning to about 4 inches of snow that had fallen over night, and it continued to snow throughout the day. We ate a ton of good food (our go-to Christmas Eve crab legs and Christmas day prime rib), lounged around all day every day, filled up on cookies and pie, and had a great time. 

But enough about that, I'm sure if you're anything like me, the last thing you want to think about right now is holiday baking. So today I want to talk about something totally simple and un-Christmassy: roasted chicken. A friend recently told me that in the (American) Deep South, they call chickens yard birds*. I like it, I get it. My parents’ chickens flee the coop and mill about the yard all day. They’re totally yard birds. 

As you may recall, I was late to the chicken roasting game. But alas, since that fateful day, guided by the words of Thomas Keller, I’ve become a chicken roasting fiend. I just can’t get enough. It’s easy! And cheap! And boy is it ever delicious. Every chicken I roast—whether I butter it or oil it (or follow Keller’s lead and simply salt & pepper it), add special herbs and spices, use lemons, put it over vegetables, use a recipe, or just wing it (get it, wing it!?)—it turns out amazing.

Want a roast chicken tip? The pan juices, people! The pan juices! Either pour that delicious goodness over your carved bird before serving, or serve alongside your chicken for dipping. Sometimes Evan and I just use our hands, and dip every tasty bite into that amazing pan juice, licking our fingers along the way. It's barbaric. And its the best possible way to do it. We ate an entire chicken by ourselves the other night. It was just so good we couldn’t stop. Don’t judge… I have a few more days until resolution time!

My new favorite roast chicken recipe is from Lottie and Doof. Great site, great chicken. I've made a variation of this bird twice now. Smoky paprika, garlic, yukon gold potatoes. It smells so amazing while it's cooking that I can hardly stand it. I also just received a hilarious cookbook for Christmas that I can't wait to try—Fifty Shades of Chicken—which is full of mouthwatering chicken recipes and photos. Food porn, literally! The book is a parody on the 50 Shades of Grey series, but if you want my opinion, skip Mr. Grey, go straight to the chicken. 

Sorry… I hope we can still be friends, but I happen to hate 50 Shades of Grey. When the books came out, I heard a lot of hype… was I curious? Sure. Did I buy all 3 books on my Kindle? Absolutely. Did I like it? It was mildly entertaining, and yeah, that first “adult” scene caught me off guard, made me blush a little. But, first of all, the area near Pike Place Market is NOT called the “Pike Market District.” No one says that. Ever.  And the “inner goddess” thing? Cute the 1st time. Mildly annoying the 10th time. I WANT TO PUNCH YOUR INNER GODDESS IN THE EFFING FACE the 500th time. 

Oh.. sorry, where were we? Oh yes, chicken. Wait until after New Years—it's bad luck to ring in the new year with chicken, because the bird scratches backwards (rather than moving forward)—and then go for it. I plan on working a roast bird into my weekly winter/spring rotation, and I suggest you do the same! 

Here are a couple of goodies to get you started. Follow them exactly, or use them as a guide... trust me, a great roast chicken is hard to screw up! 

• Lottie & Doof's Pimentón Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
• Thomas Keller's Best Roast Chicken Ever
• Ina's Perfect Roast Chicken

Happy New Year… I'll see you in 2013!

*In writing this post, I also learned that yard bird is slang for prisoner, which is not my intended use, and I mean absolutely no offense. However, this is a good time to plug an amazing non-profit organization that Amanda has been volunteering at: Books to Prisoners. Based here in Seattle, BTP’s volunteers send donated books to prisoners around the US, in hopes to foster a love of reading and encourage the pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement. Check it out! 

Exposed: Thomas Keller's Roast Chicken

I have a dark, dirty, shameful secret. It’s so absolutely revolting, that it makes even the wildest Hollywood sex scandal look tame. At this point, I’d rather be confessing to a torrid affair, or an embezzlement scheme, or even a past life as a coffee-stand bikini barista, but no… what I have to tell you is far more disgraceful and humiliating. As your resident food blogger and self-proclaimed food LOVER, someone who wants you to believe I know what I’m talking about in the kitchen, I regret to tell you that until last night…

I had never roasted a chicken. I know, it’s revolting—feel free to take a moment to gather your composure, divert your eyes to hide the disappointment. I’ll understand. I was disappointed in myself too. But now...well, friends, now I’m glad that I held out as long as I did. Because if I had been roasting chickens left and right this whole time, I may have passed up this unassuming little number. If I was a bird-in-the-oven a week type of gal, I would probably be coating them with truffle oil and dusting them with gold, at this point. Or at least using lots of garlic, citrus, fats, and spices; brines, marinades, and rubs. But alas, I didn’t truss up a hen and call her dinner until last night, and I used the one-and-only roast chicken recipe people need to know about: Thomas Keller’s.

I did my fair share of research before deciding to make Keller my first. I mean, obviously Thomas Keller is a god among men, but a chicken roasted with nothing but salt and pepper?! No butter or oil? No basting mid-way through?! No sage under the skin and lemons inside?! I read the reviews. I knew that everyone who had ever tried Keller’s simple roast chicken found themselves swooning at the thought of that salty, crispy, crackly skin. The ruling was out, it was a winner. But I still had to see it, and taste it, to believe it.

First of all, if you’ve been intimidated by roasting a whole chicken, don’t be. Keller’s method is so simple and easy, a child could do it. Or even a chicken. Seriously, it’s such a cinch, a chicken could do it. And really, if you’re gonna be a cooked chicken, this is the way to go. It was juicy and tender, but in a hearty, meaty kind of way. The salt and pepper made a crunchy shell on the skin, but also infused the entire bird with rich, savory, full flavor. With no other seasoning but an optional sprinkle of thyme when it came out of the oven, this was the most delicious roast chicken, I dare say it, I’ve ever had (sorry mom). I would even go as far to call it mouth-watering—a phrase I rarely use for a generally flavorless, bland, boring bird.

So what if I’m a late chicken-roasting bloomer? I think it’s high time you wipe that judgment and look of superiority off your smug little mug, and forget everything you ever knew about roast chicken. Then, with an open mind…go out, buy yourself a whole chicken, learn how to truss it for uniform cooking (and lovely pictures), throw it in a really hot oven for a fairly short time, open the windows and turn on the fan to avoid the smoke alarm, and make yourself the best damned roast chicken you’ll ever have.

Dirty little secrets never tasted so good.

*FYI—in an effort to not break the law and to respect the artistic rights of my fellow recipe-creators, I recently re-read the copyright laws for recipes. While it’s ok to copy a list of ingredients from a recipe, it is unlawful to copy the detailed preparation method. I generally don’t feature recipes on this site that aren’t my originals, or that I haven’t adapted with new ingredients, measurements, or preparation methods. And, if I do use someone else’s recipe, I’m sure to give credit where it’s due. Thomas Keller’s chicken recipe, however, is so beautifully written, that I chose to link to it rather than adapt it. Any man that advises eating a full roast chicken with your fingers, well, that man should be recognized. Luckily for me (and you) Epicurious was able to adapt Keller’s recipe with his language from his cookbook, Bouchon.