Dinner Tonight: The Perfect Roast Chicken

There are few things in life that are as beautifully basic as a simple, roasted chicken.

For many, chicken is a safe canvas for culinary treatments of all types: doused in sauce, covered in flavorful rubs, dredged and fried ... the list goes on. But how often do we enjoy the chicken just as it is? The words bland and dry come to mind as reasons why we don't, but if prepared well, this dinner staple is anything but.

There are a few cardinal rules I follow when roasting chicken:

1. Buy organic, free-range chickens. This is good for many reasons and definitely tastes better. Buying this type of chicken yields meat that actually, well, tastes like chicken.
2. Plan ahead and dry brine your chicken for one day. I know this is an extra step that you'll have to plan for but it is key for juicy meat. Brining chicken works wonders, just as it does for its infamously dry cousin, the turkey. Unlike turkey, though, you can dry-brine chicken simply by covering the chicken in salt.
3. Truss your chicken. Tie the legs together and tuck the wings under the body cavity. This ensures the chicken will cook evenly—you won't have some parts dry while other parts are cooked perfectly. If you don't have butcher string you can make a small half-inch incision toward the bone-end of one thigh (cut through the entire thigh) and stick the other end of the thigh bone through the hole. This will keep the chicken legs together.
4. Put the chicken in the oven when it's at room temperature. Leave the chicken out for at least two hours before roasting. Again, this ensures even cooking.
5. Make sure the chicken skin is very dry before applying the butter. This ensures you'll get beautiful and crispy chicken skin, my favorite part!

The only thing I use to flavor my chicken is garlic and lemon. I find the simpler the flavoring the better the chicken tastes. Feel free to add your own aromatics such as onions or thyme, but the simpler the better!

This is a rustic dish so I usually throw in whatever vegetables look good at the market. This time, it was fingerling potatoes that hold up well to roasting. Also try Brussels sprouts or beets. Both are sturdy vegetables that can be roasted for a while and taste great with this chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 organic, free-range chicken, trussed
• 2 lemons
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed so they're cracked open
• 3 Tbsp. of kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp.-sized nob of unsalted butter, softened
• 1 small bag of fingerling potatoes or other vegetable
• Sprinkle of good sea salt, such as Maldon sea salt
• Fresh-cracked black pepper

Directions:

Rinse and dry your chicken (remove the innards). Throw the garlic into a large bowl and lightly squeeze the lemons over the chicken. Cover the chicken with the kosher salt, inside and outside. Stuff the chicken with the lemons and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave in the refrigerator for one day.

When you're ready to roast the chicken, remove from the refrigerator and leave it out for two hours until it's room temperature. There will be a pool of liquid at the bottom of your bowl (throw away).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with the rack placed in the middle of the oven. Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Using some paper towels, pat the entire chicken so it's as dry as possible. Truss your chicken. Place the softened butter in your fingers and rub it all over the top of the chicken, breast side up. Then (with clean fingers) sprinkle a hefty pinch of sea salt over the chicken and a light sprinkle of black pepper.

Toss the potatoes in a light coating of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt (don't use too much because the chicken will render some fat that will coat the potatoes). Place them at the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top, breast side up.

Roast for about 50 minutes to an hour, depending on the chicken's size. To test the chicken, make an incision where the thigh meets the breast and the liquid should run clear when it's done. Remove the chicken and let it rest on the cutting board for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Enjoy with the roasted veggies. This is simple cooking at its best!