Simple roasted chicken is one of those dishes everyone wants to make perfectly, including me. And while I think I’ve done a pretty decent job in the past with my citrus and herb roasted chicken, I wanted to make it better, with a moist, flavorful inside, crispy outside and maybe even a side dish all wrapped into one pan. I wanted it all.
As I was working on this dish the past six months, I was getting frustrated that things just weren’t turning out the way I envisioned. The skin wasn’t quite crispy enough, and sometimes the inside was still pink. And so my husband came home one day with “Roasting: A Simple Art” by Barbara Kafka. I really love this book, and not just for her tips on roasting chicken. But the tip I took to heart most of all was the cooking temperature.
Previously I had been cooking my chicken in a 400°F oven, but her roast chicken recipe called for 500°F. So I gave it a try, and it was one of the elements that has been missing to making a coveted roast chicken.
I also started adding a whole onion to the veggie mix and I really loved how it caramelized while cooking. You can usually find me eating most of the cooked onion before I actually serve the chicken. Oops.
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You can use any spice blend you like, but I do recommend marinating overnight in a mix of dry and wet ingredients, such as dried or fresh herbs, citrus, wine, olive oil, soy sauce or fresh juice. I don’t use honey when I marinate because I find it tends to burn once you put it in the oven. Below I recommend the mix I like most for this dish, but you can really make any flavor combination you like.
I also recommend using either an upright chicken roaster (they cost less than $10 and they are awesome) or a classic roasting pan with rack, which is especially ideal for an all-in-one-dish like this. While the chicken cooks, the juices and seasoning drips down, flavoring the potatoes, carrots and onion with fatty chicken goodness. I think it’s really the best part.
And while roast chicken is a Friday night staple, I often find myself making a chicken like this at the beginning of the week, because it is truly an easy dish that is delicious and versatile to enjoy all week.
Note: The chicken needs to marinate in the fridge overnight, or up to 24 hours.
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