Roast Chicken

Roasted Potatoes with Garlic

Green Salad or Green Beans

On Sunday, Paris slows down. It seems as if folks are choosing to prioritize themselves, their loved ones, and life. I’ve learned that Sundays are for roasting chicken (le poulet du dimanche). If you know me, you know I fuck with chicken. People are always shewk when I pull a beauty bird out of the oven. Here’s the thing though, it’s really easy to do. Go ahead, impress your guests and add this to your culinary portfolio of skills.

The key to successful bird roasting is to dry brine — salt it the day before you plan to roast. I usually get my chicken the day before I plan to serve it, salt her, and leave her uncovered in the fridge and overnight. The dry brining process seasons the meat while drying out the skin so that it gets super crispy in the oven. When I’m ready to roast, I set the chicken on top of a bed of potatoes with whole cloves of garlic tossed in duck fat and throw her in the oven. The smell of roasting chicken filling our teeny apartment and is a cozy, luxurious, and comforting moment.

When procuring chicken (or any meat or fish), Romaine and I prefer to eat higher quality meat less frequently. I believe it’s important to get a bird raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. We plan our meals for the week and if we know we are going to splurge on a nice chicken, we will plan more vegetable forward meals for the rest of the week. I recognize and acknowledge that my privilege in my ability to have a choice in the matter. I understand that not everyone has this luxury. In France, it’s easy to find out what kind of chicken you are purchasing. In the states, you have to do a little more research (which is bullshit—we should know what is in our supermarkets without having to do extensive research). Get the highest quality chicken that is within your price range, and do some research if you have to. The chicken that you roast is a good investment because you can freeze the carcass and save it to make chicken stock on another day (I’ll post a recipe soon for stock).

Recipe Type: Weekend Meal, Easy

Time: 1.5 hours to roast and prep plus 24 hours to salt the chicken

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 whole chicken of the highest quality that you can afford.

Kosher Salt

Pepper

2 lbs of fingerling potatoes scrubbed

1 lb of green beans trimmed

6-7 peeled whole garlic cloves

A couple sprigs of thyme

Equipment

Roasting pan or large cast iron skillet

1 medium pot for green beans

Instructions

Saturday Evening

Put around 2-3 tablespoons of kosher salt into a small bowl. Take chicken out of the packaging and wipe carefully with paper towels (no need to rinse). Salt the outside and inside of the chicken liberally over the sink so that you keep the raw chicken moments as contained as possible.
Place the chicken on a plate uncovered in your fridge breast side up. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours. This process is known as dry brining - for more information read this guide by Serious Eats.
Wash your sink thoroughly with soapy hot water.

Sunday evening (1-2 hours before you plan to roast your bird)

1-1.5 hours before roasting Pull the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
30 minutes before roasting - wash your potatoes, strain them, and set into the bottom of the roasting rack. Add the whole garlic cloves. Drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of fat (preferably duck fat if you have, or olive/grape seed oil). Season with salt.
15 minutes before roasting - preheat oven to 400℉ or 200℃
When ready to roast, set the chicken on top of the potatoes. Add a sprig of thyme into the cavity of the chicken and add the rest to the potatoes.
Roast chicken in the oven for around 1 hour until cooked through (about 165 degrees F or 74 degrees C). This will depend on the size of your chicken. Rotate the chicken in the oven halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking.
When cooked through, pull out of oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

How to Serve

After the chicken has rested, carve the chicken and serve with potatoes and whole garlic cloves.

Serve with boiled green beans or a salad with a simple vinaigrette (one part lemon juice, one part oil, salt/pepper — a teaspoon of Dijon mustard optional)

Timeline for Preparing

Friday or Saturday AM

Go grocery shopping

Saturday 6pm

Salt chicken

Sunday 7pm dinner

4:45 pm pull chicken out of fridge to come to room temperature
5:30 pm - preheat oven
5:45 pm stick chicken in the oven
Wash salad greens and prepare vinaigrette or start boiling water for green beans
6:45 pm - check on chicken and pull out of oven if ready