Roast Chicken: The Classy Meal for the Classy Family

Travel to any Continental European bistro, and chances are you’ll find a roast chicken on the menu. It’s cheap and easy to prepare, tasty, and—most importantly, from a restaurant perspective—smells delicious. Even those who don’t care for fowl find the scent appetizing. (Explaining why supermarket delis pump fake roast chicken odors into their stores, but more about that some other time.)

Most of us may not have a rotisserie at home, but roasting a chicken in the oven is a quick way to make a deceivingly elegant meal.

Well, elegant when properly staged, at least—consider my picture a gritty, naturalistic take on the subject. This roast chicken pairs well with garlic mashed potatoes—recipe coming soon. For now:

• ½ cup salt (optional, for brine)
• ½ cup sugar (optional, for brine)
• 1 whole chicken (giblets discarded/prepared for the dog)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Pepper

1. Optional (but recommended) brine: Stir salt and water in 2 quarts of water, and submerge chicken into it. Refrigerate for an hour, then remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Adjust oven rack to middle-lower position and place roasting pan on rack. Heat to 400 degrees. Coat the v-rack with cooking spray and set aside.
3. Loosely insert your fingers into the center positions of each breast’s skin. Place butter on meat in the center of each breast, and gently massage the butter evenly over the breasts.
4. Rub skin with oil and place chicken wing side up on v-rack. Place v-rack in preheated pan and roast for 15 minutes.
5. Rotate the chicken, so the opposite wing side faces up. Return pan to oven and roast for 15 minutes.
6. Rotate the chicken, so the breast side faces up, and roast until the breast registers 160 degrees,= and the thighs 175 degrees. Right around 25 minutes.
7. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let it rest for 10 minutes. Carve and serve.

My sincerest apologies for step three.

For the dapper gentleman and the lady on the go: The Better Taster Boutique is the Awesomeness Digest’s exclusive retailer! Dress in only the finest apparel or adorn your walls with select artworks—the Better Taster Boutique has something for everyone!

Clockwise, from upper left:

1. Zune: Our bestseller! It was 2006, and Microsoft was riding high. Case in point: The Zune. Don your appreciation for the ubiquitous media player with this “retro cool” logo t-shirt.
2. SpiceaWAR: A fully authorized reprint of the infamous 2011 spicy-food contest, SpiceaWAR. “Ingest quickly and see!”
3. Manny Calavera: Channel your inner “geek chic” with this throwback to the 1998 video game Grim Fandango.
4. The Doxey: “Mostly Hair”—The Son of Spokane modeled specifically for this motif which has become an iconic design in Texas.

Be a Better Taster; Shop Like a Better Taster.