A roast chicken is the easiest impressive dinner there is. Salt it the night before if you can, get the oven properly hot, and let it rest before carving. That is honestly most of it.
The potatoes go in the same oven. Par-boiling them and roughing up the edges is what makes them shatteringly crisp.
Lemon Herb Roast Chicken
Crisp skin, juicy meat and a pan full of lemony juices. Sunday dinner at its simplest.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chickenabout 4 lb
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp buttersoftened
- 2 tbsp chopped thyme and rosemary
- 1 lemonhalved
- 1 head garlichalved crosswise
- 1 onioncut into wedges
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Pat the chicken dry and season inside and out with salt and pepper.
-
Mix the butter and herbs and rub it under and over the skin.
-
Put the lemon and garlic inside the chicken and set it on the onion wedges in a roasting pan.
-
Roast for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the juices run clear and the thigh reaches 165°F (74°C).
-
Rest for 15 minutes before carving. Spoon the pan juices over the meat.
Notes
Salting the chicken the night before and leaving it uncovered in the fridge gives the crispiest skin.
Garlic Roasted Potatoes
Fluffy inside, shatteringly crisp outside. The trick is a quick par-boil and a hot oven.
Ingredients
- 2 lb Yukon Gold potatoescut into chunks
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlicsmashed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped rosemary
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with a rimmed baking sheet inside.
-
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes. Drain and shake in the colander to rough up the edges.
-
Toss with the oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
-
Spread on the hot tray and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
-
Toss with rosemary and serve.