Roast Chicken

I might be the only one left who'd never roasted a chicken...but there you have it. I used a recipe from Serious Eats, which they shared from one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks. I chose the recipe, over others available, because it was dead simple. Seriously.

Here's my adaptation.

Ingredients:
1 3 1/2 pound -4 pound chicken
1/4 cup salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
2 tsp. seasoning herb rub (I used Williams-Sonoma brand)
Olive oil
2 carrots
4 potatoes
2 onions

1. Preheat your oven to 475. Wash your vegetables well, and chop them into 2" bits. (Except the onions. Just peel and quarter those.) Put your veg in a large bowl, toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and spread on the bottom of a roasting pan. Mix your spices in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Remove all the giblets from inside your bird. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Glug on a bit of olive oil and rub your bird all over. Then, start grabbing pinches of your salt rub and massage it into your bird, inside and out. Focus on the thighs and breast. When your bird is nice and salty, set it right on top of your veg. (Next time, I'm going to try using my rack. I'm hoping to get the Crisp to extend further around the bird. Mmmm.)

3. Put your bird in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 400. Set your timer for 1 hour and 20 minutes and walk away. Check it halfway through. Baste the bird, and add a splash of water to the pan if the veg look dry. At the end of your time, take the bird's temperature - it should measure about 170 F. Remove your pan from the oven and let the bird rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. (During that time, the bird will finish cooking, and should end up at 180F.)

4. When the bird is done resting, carve it up and serve! Remove the veg to a bowl, the chicken in another bowl. Serve a nice green salad and some soft french bread on the side. Delicious!