I was always blown away by my mom’s roast chicken. It’s flavorfully packed with rosemary and ginger and garlic. The coloring was this crisp brown, while the coloring of my roasts would literally pale in comparison. For years, it was my gold standard.
But I’ve now surpassed her!! I used the recipe from Kenji Lopez’s The Test Kitchen book. I can’t believe how tender the meat is while the skin remains a crispy brown. I also spatchcocked the chicken, which made the bird cook way faster in 35 minutes than the usual 1.5 hours of my mom’s recipe.
I paired this chicken with a white wine au jus, also in the same book. It was such an amazingly satisfying and simple meal. I would definitely make this a weekly meal.
I would start experimenting with more spices next time. The biggest takeaways are the ones below:
- Rub vegetable oil all over the skin and underneath the skin. This allows for the browning to occur.
- Carefully separate the skin and the meat by sliding your fingers under the skin. This allows for the fat to crisp up instead of steaming.
- Spatchcock your chicken! This is essential, since this allows for even cooking of the breasts and the thighs at the same time which is almost impossible in a traditional bird set-up. Also, your cooking time is dramatically reduced and you don’t have to flip a spatchcocked chicken.
