Perfect Roasted Chicken

Roasting a chicken is a basic skill that everyone should master in their culinary skills. This recipe came from one of Anthony Bourdain's specials on his favorite foods. The key to a perfect roasted chicken is high heat and dry — no oil, no butter, no basting. It sounds like that would make a terrible dry, rubbery chicken, but what it really does is make the skin super crispy and the meat unbelievably moist.

Plus, it's a no-brainer to make. Two ingredients: Chicken and salt. Then you just let the oven do the work for you.

Perfect Roast Chicken
{Printable Recipe}
1 4-5 pound whole chicken
2 tbsp salt

Special Equipment
kitchen twine

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Tie your chicken. You want to make sure the legs are tied tightly and that it's all one snug little package — this ensures even cooking. Here's a tutorial from Justin:

Once it's all trussed, you can stick on either flat on an oven-proof pan, or make this little contraption (below): it ensures the heat reaches all areas of the chicken. And we don't have a fancy roasting pan. Roast at 450 degrees for 1 hour (and change, if you need it).

Here's the final product:

Before...

After.

We had ours with a simple aioli: 

a couple tablespoons of mayo, a splash of lemon, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. 

-Katie

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