Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 (3 1/2) pound whole chickens, wingtips removed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 0.25 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, thinly sliced and seeded

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. Place chicken, breast-side down, on a work surface. Starting at the tail end, cut along both sides of backbone with kitchen shears. Remove backbone.
3. Grab both sides of the chicken and open it like a book. Turn breast side up. Push down on each side of breast with your hands until you hear it crack. Flatten chicken and transfer to one short end of the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the second chicken.
4. Combine salt, tarragon, paprika, and pepper in a small bowl. Stir in oil. Run your fingers under chicken skin and rub tarragon paste under skin. Slide lemon slices under skin, in a single layer.
5. Roast until skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast reads 165 degrees F, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting each chicken into 8 pieces.

Watch out for: The dry pan smokes at these temperatures — 5 cooks hit it. Scatter vegetables or a splash of water under the rack, or accept a loud kitchen fan.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 4 Tablespoons butter (softened)
• 1 lemon
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried rosemary, finely chopped)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 large carrots (chopped )
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1.5 lbs baby red potatoes (halved)
• chicken gravy (optional)

Method

1. Prep Chicken: If using a frozen whole chicken, thaw completely (1-2 days in the fridge) before cooking. When ready to roast chicken, preheat oven to 450 degrees F and adjust your oven rack so the chicken will sit in the center of the oven. Remove neck and giblets from inside the cavity of the chicken and pat dry all over with paper towels.
2. Herb Butter: In a bowl combine softened butter, lemon zest and chopped rosemary. Season the outside of the chicken and inside the cavity with salt and pepper.
3. Apply Herb Butter: Use your fingers to loosen and lift the skin above the breasts (on the top of the chicken) and smooth a few tablespoons of the herb butter underneath. Microwave the remaining herb butter mixture for 5-10 seconds, until softened, and smear the remaining herb butter all over the outside of the chicken, legs and wings.
4. Finish: Cut the lemon in half and place inside the cavity of the bird. Add the onion, carrot and potato to the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies, season them with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Place the chicken on top, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine if desired (not required).
5. Roast the chicken, uncovered, at 450 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and roast for 20 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature (inserted on middle of thigh and breast) reaches about 165 degrees F. Skin should be golden brown and the juices should run clear. *Check the chicken about halfway through cooking and if the skin is getting overly brown you can cover it with a piece of tinfoil to protect the breast meat from overcooking.
6. Rest: Remove chicken from the oven and tent with aluminum foil to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
7. Serve with the cooked vegetables at the bottom of the pan. Reserve the drippings in the roasting pan, if desired, to make chicken gravy.

Watch out for: Baking POWDER, never soda — and if your powder carries aluminum the skin can taste of it. Herb rubs go UNDER the skin; on top they burn and their water blocks the browning you engineered.

Ingredients

• 5 pound whole roasting chicken (use a 4 to 5 pound chicken)
• 2 pounds fingerling potatoes
• kosher salt (to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (or to taste (poultry seasoning or your favorite chicken seasoning may be substituted))
• fresh parsley (optional for garnishing potatoes)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF convection, line a large baking sheet with foil; set aside. If you don’t have a convection oven, bake at 425F regular, noting that the baking time will need to increase (see step 6. below).
2. Remove the chicken giblets, pat dry the exterior of the chicken using paper towels, and place on one side of the baking sheet, breast side up; I don’t truss it.
3. Add the potatoes to the other side of the baking sheet.
4. Very liberally season the chicken with salt and pepper, more moderately season the potatoes with salt and pepper, and evenly drizzle about 2 tablespoons olive oil over the chicken and 2 tablespoons olive oil over the potatoes; toss the potatoes with your hands to coat evenly.
5. Evenly sprinkle the chicken with paprika.
6. Bake for about 55 to 60 minutes convection, or until potatoes are tender and chicken is done* (see Tips below). Toss potatoes once midway through baking to ensure even cooking. If you don’t have a convection oven, I imagine the potatoes will need about 1 hour (remove them after 1 hour) and bake the chicken for another 30 minutes (about 90 minutes total), or until done. As with anything, bake until done and don’t get caught up on what the clock says.
7. Optionally garnish potatoes with parsley before serving.

Watch out for: This is the profile where the 30F thigh-breast gap bites hardest. If you own one probe, put it in the breast and check the thigh by hand at pull time.

Ingredients

• 3½–4 pound chicken1701 g
• 8 medium garlic cloves, divided24 g
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil54 g
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt11 g
• 2 teaspoons of ground fennel seed (even better if you freshly crush 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds with mortar and pestle)4 g
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes)1 g
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper1 g
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 whole bunch of fresh thyme1 g

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF (not convection) and arrange a rack in the center position. Remove the chicken from the fridge so it has time to come to room temperature before you roast it (see notes below).
2. Squeeze 3 of the garlic cloves through a garlic press or finely mince them, and put them into a small mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, salt, fennel, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
3. Remove the giblet pouch from the cavity of the chicken (if there is one); rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water and pat it very dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan.
4. Coat the chicken with the garlic and spice mixture, spooning it on, under and inside the chicken, and using your hands to spread it around evenly, making sure there's plenty on top of the breasts.
5. Lightly crush the remaining 5 garlic cloves (see notes below) and stuff them into the cavity of the chicken. Set aside a few sprigs of fresh thyme to use as a garnish and stuff the rest into the chicken, along with the sliced lemon. Tie the chicken's legs together with twine (see notes below) and roast it in the oven uncovered for 3 hours, undisturbed.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and let the chicken rest in its juices for fifteen minutes before carving. Cut it into eight serving pieces and then cut each breast crosswise, into 5 or 6 thin slices, if you like. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter or, even easier, serve it right in the roasting pan. Nestle the chicken pieces into the pan juices, scatter the cooked lemons around, and garnish with reserved thyme sprigs.

Watch out for: One cook's covered-Dutch-oven variant came out DRIER — covering steams and defeats both skin and depth. Slow means low and open, not sealed. And budget the skin blast; without it this bird is delicious and beige.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds)1814 g
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (or sub melted butter or avocado oil)54 g
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped9 g
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt8 g
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder3 g
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika2 g
• 1 teaspoon oregano1 g
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard4 g
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound fingerling potatoes or baby gold yukon gold potatoes, halved454 g
• 4 to 5 medium to large carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and cut into 3-inch segments274 g
• 1 yellow onion, cut into large chunks150 g
• For serving:
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped dill19 g
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley19 g
• Crumbled feta
• Lemon zest
• Whipped Feta Yogurt Sauce, optional
• Arugula, optional for extra greens!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove chicken from the fridge and bring to room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Marinate the chicken: In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, garlic powder, paprika, oregano and dijon until well combined. Set aside. Generously brush half of the mixture over all sides of the chicken and rub it under the skin.
3. Assemble the sheet pan: Add the potatoes and vegetables to a large roasting pan, drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil mixture, tossing well to coat, then arrange the vegetables on the edges of the pan so there is room for the chicken in the middle. The chicken can cover some of the vegetables as needed.
4. Prep the chicken: Place the chicken breast-side down on a sturdy cutting board and pat dry with paper towels. Using sharp, strong kitchen shears, cut closely along one side of the backbone, then repeat with the other side of the backbone. Be sure to cut as close to the spine as possible so you do not remove excess meat. Remove the backbone and discard, or save it to make homemade stock.
5. Spatchcock the chicken: Flip the chicken breast-side up and firmly press down on the breast to flatten it until you hear the small crack of the breastbone breaking, which will allow the chicken to lie flat. Alternatively, with the legs facing away from you, you can make two 1-inch incisions on either side of the breastbone along the neck to help flatten the chicken.
6. Transfer the chicken to the roasting pan and generously brush the remaining marinade mixture all over the chicken and rub it under the skin.
7. Roast: Roast in the oven, stirring the vegetables halfway through, and cooking until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken breast reads 160°F, 45 to 50 minutes. (The chicken will continue to cook once you remove it from the oven.)
8. Rest the chicken: Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board or large plate and allow it to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting it into quarters.
9. Garnish & serve: Transfer vegetables to a large platter, then arrange the chicken in the middle or on top of the vegetables. Garnish with fresh herbs, feta and lemon zest. Serve on plates with some whipped feta sauce spread on for enjoying with the chicken and vegetables. This is also absolutely delicious served over a little arugula. Enjoy!

Watch out for: Cut the vegetables large or they surrender to mush before the bird is done — and stagger quick-cooking ones in late.