We had our first dinner guest in our new apartment a couple of weeks ago to obsess over...er, I mean discuss...the final Harry Potter book.
We met after work so I wanted to put together a mean that was fast but impressive. Roasted chicken is my go-to meal when I want impressive. This recipe from an old Fine Cooking is the best I've found. The best part is that it's also the easiest.
Roasted Chicken
3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken
3 Tbs. kosher salt
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme with stems set aside for later use. (I think this is one of those recipes for which the fresh herb is essential. Thyme is easy to handle. Simply hold the top of the stem and gently run your fingers backwards down the stem to remove the leaves.).
1 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
4 cloves peeled garlic
1 lemon, quartered
3-4 Tbs. butter, melted
The night or morning before you plan to cook the bird, combine the salt, thyme and pepper. Prepare the chicken by removing the giblets and washing and patting drying. Place chicken in a roasting rack. Rub the salt/thyme/pepper mixture all over the chicken. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, until ready to cook.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While it preheats, stuff the bird with the reserved thyme stems, lemon and garlic gloves.
Bake the chicken until a thermometer inserted in the thigh reads 170 degrees. Every 15 mins. while cooking, baste the chicken. At first you will have to use the butter but soon the chicken will create juice and you can baste with that.
Allow the chicken to rest for 5-10 mins. before carving so that the juices stay with the meat.
I served the chicken with roasted asparagus and these potatoes. They were delicious and I'm not even a big potato lover. The only substitution I made was to use any red potatoes. I wanted a bit of cover.
A nice bottle of Riesling and some good Harry Potter conservation completed a great meal.
2 comments:
this sounds truly excellent. i'll have to try this vertically roasted.
Good for people to know.
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