Calm and sunny spring days call for simple, flavorful food. Roast chicken and a salad make a tasty spring dinner.
Every season on Top Chef a panel of celebrity judges is brought in to judge the "Last Meal" or "Last Supper" Challenge, where contestants are tasked with creating the best meal of their lives based on a celebrity judge's favorite food. On one of these episodes Thomas Keller, renowned chef and owner of The French Laundry, declared that he's spent his life perfecting his recipe and technique for a simple roasted chicken, and considers it the last meal he'd ever want to eat in this lifetime. Roast chicken has always been one of my favorites, and something my mom made a lot growing up. I figured, with such a bold declaration, it was at least worth trying once before my last meal. Because what if I want to eat it a couple more times before my last meal rolls around? I was very impressed, Thom's life's work has not gone unnoticed. This is one tasty hunk of meat.
THOMAS KELLER'S SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN
(Recipe courtesy of Thomas Keller's Bouchon)
3-5 pound whole chicken
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced thyme
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.
Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird. Now, salt the chicken, by pouring salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan or baking dish, and when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board. Serve with a simple salad, and bread to soak up some of the juices.
