Newsletter #1: Roast ALL the Chickens

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Newsletter #1: Roast ALL the Chickens

William Doran // March 5, 2021

Okay, perhaps save a few for making eggs (and thus, more chickens), but you won’t regret the ones you roast. They make such a satisfying, show-stopping meal that any meat-eater should prepare it at least once. I think (and hope) you will become a repeat roaster. I’ve made my way through three birds this week, and my poor housemate (a.k.a. grandma) might flee into the woods and live with the foxes if I put any more chicken on the table. Roasting a whole chicken is not as scary as it sounds and much easier than living with foxes. It will make your house smell the most delightful and provide a variety of meals for the week if you’re flying solo. Recipe, other thoughts, and related content below. Ask me questions! There is a comment section at the end. Happy roasting!

Printable Recipe

Roast Chicken with Vegetables

Feeds 3-4 people. Can be doubled for a crowd. Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 3 hours. (Does not include resting time for chicken: 2 hours or overnight). This recipe incorporates a blast of high heat to give the outside of the bird some crunch and color followed by a low-temp marathon to cook the meat and retain maximum juiciness. Though it takes some time, this method makes the best roast chicken and is worth the effort for a Sunday dinner, if you have some time to be industrious, and/or love to spend hours in your kitchen anyway as I do.

2 fryer halves (or one 3-4 pound bird, spatchcocked)*
1 tsp kosher sea salt (table salt is denser, so use less)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
1/2 tsp chili flake (optional)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth
1 large red onion (any color is fine)
1 lemon
3-4 medium carrots**
1 fennel bulb (tender white part only)**

Other stuff you will need
large roasting / sheet pan with 1-2” sides
kitchen shears if spatchcocking your chicken

Notes
* Splurge for an organic, free-range bird for the best-tasting chicken.
** Aside from the lemon and onion, you can swap out any vegetables you have on hand like potatoes cut into 1/2” pieces, radishes, parsnips, sliced celery, whole garlic cloves, or even halved cherry tomatoes - simply adjust when they are added to the pan. Tomatoes will only need 10-15 minutes to cook.

Prepare the chicken
Remove neck and gizzards from the cavity, if included, and spatchcock your chicken (see instructions following recipe). Keep the backbone, neck, etc., and roast along with the chicken. If using fryer halves, proceed to the next step.

Season the chicken
Pat dry and lay flat in the pan, breast side up. Season all sides with salt, pepper, and spices. Rest the chicken, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight. Let her come to room temperature a couple hours before roasting.

Prep the vegetables
Prior to roasting, slice your vegetables into roughly 1/2” thick pieces. Keep the rind on the lemon and discard the seeds.

Roast
Preheat oven to 425° F. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken and roast for 20 minutes until the skin is brown and any oil in the pan is bubbling.

Remove the pan from the oven and pour the wine over the chicken. Sprinkle the vegetables around the chicken (some can go under the legs if you are tight on space). Toss them with the wine / oil and return to the oven.

Reduce heat to 275° F and continue cooking for 2-1/2 hours, using a large spoon to ladle the pan juices over the chicken and vegetables once every 30 minutes throughout the process.

Rest and serve
Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve chicken and vegetables with pasta or rice.

If you’re feeling adventurous, serve with some roasted cauliflower a la The Magic of Roasting a Vegetable. Sprinkle some fennel fronds for effect and enjoy! P.S. Please eat the lemon rinds and tell your friends! They are by far one of the best components of this dish.

Learn More: Materials & Methods

Roasting. High heat (and science) give us the magic that is brown, crispy, flavorful skin - while low heat holds in juiciness. The Maillard reaction is what’s happening when we roast or toast anything. If you don’t have enough time for the recipe above, roast a whole chicken at 425° F for 75-80 minutes [ more … ]

Spatchcocking is just a fancy word for removing the backbone of a chicken and flattening it out and is not for the faint of heart. You will hear cracking as you cut through each rib to split them from the backbone. Learn how, here. Proceed and be bold.

Why you should season ahead and rest meat overnight. Salting ahead allows seasoning through osmosis - salt on the exterior wants to balance with the unsalted water inside the bird. So the longer it sits, the more opportunity there is for the salt to migrate inward [more …]

What to do with all this chicken: I promised plans for leftovers - and here I shall deliver. Anytime I roast (or even buy - blasphemy) a chicken, I use the bones to make stock. In between, a chicken can take on many delectable forms to get you through the week [more …]

Learn More: Research, Testing, & Lagniappe

People have been eating chickens for a long time (sorry chickens - you can run but you cannot avoid the fryer or honey-barbecue dipping sauce forever). Here’s what I found.

Things I will remember from this: Opelousas Chicken “Feeds 6 good eaters or 12 children,” Tony Chachere was actually just a jolly insurance salesman, and my grandmother’s hand-written note on the recipe, “tres bon.”

Low-and-slow is the way to go. Happy roasting and adventurous cooking!

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