When in Doubt, Roast a Chicken.

In a world filled with recipes, it’s still every cook’s dilemma – what to make? My stock answer is: Easy Roast Chicken. 

 

When you need something easy yet delectably delicious. Quick enough for weeknights yet fancy enough for company.

 

Absolutely elegant yet agreeably inexpensive … roast a chicken!

 

Seriously, who doesn’t like really good roast chicken? I’m talking brown crispy skin over the most succulent juicy meat. Makes your mouth happy just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

 

The secret to no-fail, beautiful every time, perfect chicken is high temperature roasting called “blasted chicken”.

Everyone has their version of this technique and here’s mine. I’ve been using this technique for more than a dozen years as my go-to method of preparing a whole chicken.

 

One word of advice – your oven must be clean. If not, the high heat will burn all the gunk in your oven and smoke up the whole house. And that’s not very Diva. To be on the safe side always use the exhaust fan when you blast a chicken. My kids used to call this “smoke alarm chicken”, ‘nuf said.

 

BLASTED CHICKEN

 

Yield – 4 to 6 servings Prep time – 10 minutes Cook time – 45 minutes Rest time – 15 minutes

 

What You’ll Need:

• 1 (3 ½ to 4 ½ pounds) whole chicken– rinsed and patted dry
• Salt and pepper

 

Here’s How:

1. Preheat the oven to 450° for at least 15 minutes so it’s good and hot.
2. Head over to your very clean sink. Take the whole chicken and open the wrappings, remove the innards you from the cavity. You can save these to make stock or gravy, sauté them and eat them or just discard them, your choice.
   By the way, if you’re squeamish about handling raw chicken, try wearing latex gloves. That has worked for friends of mine who got all ooogy touching meat.
3. There’s no need to rinse the chicken because it will cook to a temperature that will kill all the nasties. but if your Mom told you to do it, then go ahead.
4. Dry the chicken really, really, really well with paper towels. You want to remove moisture so it will roast and not steam. I even dab a wad of paper towels in the cavity to remove moisture in there.
5. Season the whole chicken liberally with salt and pepper. I don’t advise using other spices as they will burn.

   Do not truss, do not stuff, and do not attempt to baste during cooking. I’m totally not kidding. Back off, Diva!

6. Place the chicken, breast up, uncovered in a roasting pan that’s been lined with foil. That makes clean up super easy. Be sure your pan has sides to contain the juices so they don’t run all over the bottom of the oven and smoke up the whole house.
7. You don’t have to use a rack, but I do. Here’s a link to my roasting rack that I love. It’s inexpensive, versatile because it’s totally adjustable and it lays flat for storage. It’s the only rack I ever use because it works for everything. Adjustable Good Cook Roast Rack
8. Place chicken in the oven and shut the door. Set the timer for 45 minutes and walk away. Resist the urge to peek. Walk away. Go make a side dish or watch a couple episodes of “The Munsters” on Netflix.
9. When the timer goes off, check for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh where it should read 165 degrees. The temperature will continue to rise as it rests.
10. This next part is so important. You must let the chicken rest, tented loosely with foil, for at least 15 minutes before you slice into it. The juices need to redistribute. If you skip this step all that beautiful juice will run out on the cutting board instead of staying in the chicken. That’s just sad.

 

I like to serve this with buttery, garlicy brown rice and crisp tender steamed green beans finished with a big ol’ squeeze of lemon over the whole plate. Be sure to spoon the pan juices over your plate, too.

 

 

Can you use this technique with larger birds?

 

If you have a chicken weighing 5 to 5 ½ lbs.: Increased the cooking time by 10 minutes. Be sure to use your thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. Keep cooking until it reaches 165°. Let it rest, loosely covered with foil for 20 minutes.

 

I don’t recommend this technique for chickens weighing over 6 pounds. The outside will dry out long before the insides cook completely. It would be better to cook two smaller birds. That’s better anyway because then there are enough legs and thighs for everyone.

 

You’re going to love this technique because it comes out perfect every time. It’s so easy you won’t want to pay for rotisserie chicken again.

 

Enjoy your Divalicious new favorite way to prepare chicken.

 

 

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