Yes, another roast chicken recipe. Find the one you like best.
Blatantly stolen from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, this is the best way I’ve found to roast a chicken with amazing crispy skin. And extremely easy to make.
3 to 4 lb chicken, spatchcocked (Save the backbone for gravy) 2T kosher salt
1T baking powder
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Optional: fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage. Garlic powder, onion powder.
Lay the chicken out on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Mix the salt and baking powder together in a small bowl then rub the mixture all over the chicken. Set in the refrigerator for anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. The longer the better. This will make the chicken tender and moister as well as dry out the skin.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and brush off any excess powder. With a small knife or skewer, locate the fat deposits under the skin and make several holes in order for the fat to ooze out of the skin while the chicken roasts. This will also make for a very crispy skin. Mix 1/4 cup mayo with any fresh herbs you would like. I like thyme, rosemary, Italian parsley, and garlic powder. But you can use any or none. Slather the mayo all over the top of the chicken. (This also works great for your Thanksgiving turkey.)
Set oven to 450F (if you have a convection setting, that’s even better).
Place chicken in oven and roast until the breast meat next to the bone registers 150F. After half an hour, check on the temp and the skin. If it is getting too brown and hasn’t come to temperature yet, either cover with aluminum foil or turn the temperature down to 350. Cooking should take from 45 to 60 minutes.
Remove chicken from the oven and transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.
Optional:
Make a jus/gravy while the chicken roasts.
In a wide pan take the backbone and neck if you have it and brown in a bit of olive oil. Add a chunked up onion, carrots, celery, leeks, or whatever you have as well as the stems from the herbs you put in the mayonnaise. Once browned, add water to cover and simmer until the chicken is done. (I also had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge so I added the wings, legs and back to the bath.) When the chicken is out of the oven, drain the broth and discard the solids. You now have a choice as to what kind of sauce you want to make. You can make a jus or go all gravy on it. If making a jus, make a slurry of either corn starch or potato starch and water and add to the broth until it thickens slightly. Adjust taste with salt and pepper. If making a gravy you will probably not need all the broth so set some aside. Make the slurry and add to boiling stock. Stir until the proper consistency is reached. Off heat, you might like to add some butter to smooth out the gravy.
