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Makes
1 whole 3lb chicken
Author Notes
I love roasted chicken, it is one of my favorites, but the truth is the secret to a perfect roast chicken (or any really simple dish) has nothing really to do with how you cook it but more to do with quality of the chicken. Get a good one if you can't get to a butcher or farmer's market dig around the supper market shelf and look at the expiration dates to determine which is the freshest. —shell
Ingredients
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3 pounds
Chicken
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Kosher Salt and Pepper
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Handful
Fresh Herbs (rosmary, tyme..) optional
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Butcher's twine
Directions
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Set oven to 375.
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Pat chicken dry. If you are using fresh herbs cut several small slits between the chicken's skin and the meat (don't puncture the meat) and insert the herbs so that they are underneath the skin (I find that Rosemary tends to be the easiest to insert since the stalk is quite robust)
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Rub a liberal amount of Kosher salt over the entire bird (even in the cavity). When you are done you will need to truss the chicken. If you don't know how to truss a bird there are several tutorials on youtube.com that are easy to follow. Trussing will make the chicken cook more evenly and keep the breast tender. Please note that if the neck has been removed just tie around the back of the bird. Finish by grinding fresh pepper over the top of the chicken.
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Place chicken in a cooking pan that is made for use in the oven. You could use a roasting pan but it is harder to get at the lovely juices for basting. Bake for one hour (note that this is where the lbs matter the general rule I follow is 20 min per pound of bird adjust accordingly) baste the chicken every 15 minutes or so with a basting brush (I prefer the silicone ones) this produces a beautiful skin.
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When time is up take bird out of oven and allow to rest before eating. If you are using a meat thermometer to judge if it is done the temp should be 165.
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