Perfect Roast Chicken

The Chicken came out great but the onions that were under the chicken came out a little burned.

I've done this chicken several times with very good results ... although as another reviewer notes, the onions do seem to burn before the chicken is ready.

I follow Thomas Keller's suggestion in Ad Hoc at Home and let the chicken sit for an hour or so at room temperature prior to roasting. As a result, I generally roast for a slightly shorter period than the 90 minutes called for by the recipe. I think doing so results in better taste and texture.

You really can just walk away and come back in 1 ½ hours to a perfectly roasted chicken. But I did cover it with foil after an hour, so the dark meat would not dry out too much. I did not want the gravy, and saved most of the chicken for later. It was great to have on hand to throw together a quick meal. It was nice and simple, but had good flavor.

This is now my standard way of preparing a roast chicken, and it is perfect every time. It completely changed the way I think about a roast chicken. Lucky Jeffrey, to come home to that on a Friday night.

This is delicious. The directions from Food Network and the cookbook are slightly different even though they cite the same recipe, so I improvised with the vegetables I added to the pan- fennel, carrot and onion. The chicken looks beautiful coming out of the oven and tastes wonderful. We carved it up before I could take a photo!

This is my weekly roast chicken recipe. It never fails to comfort and delight.