Crispy Roast Chicken
Salt & Pepper • Thyme • Lemon
Crispy Roast Chicken
Salt & Pepper • Thyme • Lemon
| Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ |  Global |
There’s nothing better than a simple roasted chicken on those nights you don’t feel like going all out. Might I add, a juicy roasted chicken with salty, peppery, crispy skin – finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.
She’s salted generously, stuffed with lemon & thyme, roasted until browned, and broiled for exxxtra crisp skin. No basting required, in order to maximize skin crispness.
Save the roasting juices to make a chicken gravy, serve with mashed potatoes & honey or maple syrup roasted carrots. Or better yet – just take a bite out of the whole damn thing.
— mm worthy approved —
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FROM THE SKY
Ingredients –
[ Approx. serves 2 ]
Click on ingredients with * for more info.
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4 lb. whole
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2 tbsp. kosher
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1 lemon
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A couple sprigs thyme
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1 tbsp. ground
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Unsalted butter,
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Time –
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Prep5 min. |
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Cook1hr 20min. |
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Total1hr 25min. |
Equipment –
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Large flat
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Rectangular
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Oven
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Twine
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— instructions —
①
Pat chicken dry, dry, dry.
Clean out the insides of the chicken (unless you’ve got a chicken that has already been cleaned). Pat the chicken down using paper towels until it is dry as a bone. Taking out the moisture will make it easier for the chicken to crisp up in the oven. The more dry you get the chicken, the crispier it will get – so try to get it as dry as you can.
②
Stuff n’ truss.
Stuff the chicken’s cavity with a couple sprigs of thyme and half of the lemon. Using the kitchen twine, truss the chicken. Trussing the chicken allows it to cook more evenly in the oven. There are several different methods of trussing, and this is one of the more simple ones. The idea is to tuck the wings in and the legs together. Place the chicken breast side up and loop around front, tucking the wings in and bringing the twine towards yourself. Tie and knot at the top of cavity and then use the string to tie the legs together. Knot and cut twine. Check out the steps with photos here.
③
Season.
Salt the chicken generously. Rub the chicken all over in all crevices with salt. You want a generous amount of salt so that the skin gets a crispy, salty, finish. Season to taste with pepper. Let the chicken rest for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the skin to dry out even more.
④
Bake bird.
Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Place trussed and stuffed chicken on a wire rack and the rack on top of a 1″ or so deep baking dish to catch the juices. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. There is no need to baste the chicken, as this will get in the way of the crisp skin. As the juices of the chicken drips onto the baking dish, you can add a bit of broth to the dish so it doesn’t burn, since the oven is at such a high temperature. Make sure you are adding hot broth to the dish, not cold.
⑤
Broil.
Turn the oven to broil and broil for an extra 5 minutes or until skin is very crisp and brown. Remove from oven and add chopped thyme over the chicken if desired. Let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board before cutting. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over chicken and serve. You can make a gravy with with the roasting juices as well by placing the dish (make sure dish is safe) directly over medium heat and adding extra chicken broth in the baking dish, scraping all the bits at the bottom. Make a roux in a small saucepan with equal parts butter and flour and add the chicken juices to the roux and whisk. Congrats! You just made crispy roasted chicken.
— instructions —
①
Pat chicken dry, dry, dry.
Clean out the insides of the chicken (unless you’ve got a chicken that has already been cleaned). Pat the chicken down using paper towels until it is dry as a bone. Taking out the moisture will make it easier for the chicken to crisp up in the oven. The more dry you get the chicken, the crispier it will get – so try to get it as dry as you can.
②
Stuff n’ truss.
Stuff the chicken’s cavity with a couple sprigs of thyme and half of the lemon. Using the kitchen twine, truss the chicken. Trussing the chicken allows it to cook more evenly in the oven. There are several different methods of trussing, and this is one of the more simple ones. The idea is to tuck the wings in and the legs together. Place the chicken breast side up and loop around front, tucking the wings in and bringing the twine towards yourself. Tie and knot at the top of cavity and then use the string to tie the legs together. Knot and cut twine. Check out the steps with photos here.
③
Season.
Salt the chicken generously. Rub the chicken all over in all crevices with salt. You want a generous amount of salt so that the skin gets a crispy, salty, finish. Season to taste with pepper. Let the chicken rest for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the skin to dry out even more.
④
Bake bird.
Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Place trussed and stuffed chicken on a wire rack and the rack on top of a 1″ or so deep baking dish to catch the juices. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. There is no need to baste the chicken, as this will get in the way of the crisp skin. As the juices of the chicken drips onto the baking dish, you can add a bit of broth to the dish so it doesn’t burn, since the oven is at such a high temperature. Make sure you are adding hot broth to the dish, not cold.
⑤
Broil.
Turn the oven to broil and broil for an extra 5 minutes or until skin is very crisp and brown. Remove from oven and add chopped thyme over the chicken if desired. Let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board before cutting. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over chicken and serve. You can make a gravy with with the roasting juices as well by placing the dish (make sure dish is safe) directly over medium heat and adding extra chicken broth in the baking dish, scraping all the bits at the bottom. Make a roux in a small saucepan with equal parts butter and flour and add the chicken juices to the roux and whisk. Congrats! You just made crispy roasted chicken.
