How to Roast a Chicken

How to roast a chicken

Roasting a chicken is possibly one of the easiest things to do in the world of cooking, but many people quail at the thought (excuse the pun) . What if I overcook it? What if I undercook it and give my in-laws food poisoning? How long does it take? And a million other worries surface. Should I cover it with aluminum foil? Should I cook it breast up or breast down? Should I cook it slowly or quickly? Just mentioning the idea of roasting a chicken to some of my friends is enough to bring on a panic attack. But fear not. It is so simple I won’t even go into great detail about temperatures and oven sizes or any of those things.

Every chef, amateur cook and would be gastronome has their own idea about how to roast a chicken, but I have never seen this way suggested. It is extremely easy and it has never failed me yet. It’s a slightly different way of doing it, but results in the most tender, juicy bird ever.

As an aside, this method is also an excellent way of cooking a Cajun-blackened chicken. Just substitute the salt and pepper with Cajun seasoning, or make your own mix with cumin, coriander, pepper, red pepper, chili powder, or whatever else is in the cupboard. I prefer Halal chickens, but free range is good also.

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You will need:

Equipment:

A skillet (with a metal handle) or metal baking tray
An oven

Ingredients:

1 medium chicken (about 3 or 4 pounds)
1 onion
salt and pepper
butter

Already, it’s the smallest list of requirements.

First, heat the oven to about 350 degrees. The exact temperature doesn’t matter, because we are going to cook this one by eye. You can use a Dutch Oven for this also, but a conventional oven works best - the only type of oven I do not recommend is a microwave oven. Next wash the chicken under cold water and pat dry.

Put the skillet over a burner, add a large knob of butter or olive oil and heat the fat. While the fat is heating, coat the chicken with either salt and pepper or Cajun spices. Peel and place the onion inside the chicken. If you have used Cajun spices, be prepared for a little smoke as some of the spices will burn, that’s what adds to the blackened effect.

When the fat is hot, place the chicken in the skillet, breast side up, cook for about a minute and turn the chicken over. Now transfer the skillet to the oven to cook properly. I will reiterate here: IF YOU ARE USING A SKILLET, MAKE SURE IT HAS A METAL HANDLE, NOT PLASTIC.

Cook the chicken for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the chicken over so it is now breast side up. Return to the oven and cook for a further 45 minutes.

Take the cooked chicken out and leave to stand for 20 minutes. Poke a hole in the chicken to make sure the juices run clear. If there is still blood in the juices, return to the oven for another 10 minutes or so. Easy!

Bon Apetit!