This dish has a devoted following at Balthazar and is a favorite among regulars who don’t bother to look at a menu before ordering. In the restaurant, the chicken is served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a selection of Pan Roasted Root Vegetables. At home we suggest throwing in some diced vegetables–like carrots, celery root, and mushrooms—along with the chicken, making it a very simple supper. (If including diced vegetables in the pan for a one-pot meal, sauté them in some olive oil over a medium flame until somewhat softened, about 10 minutes. Then push the vegetables to the side of the pan, place the chicken in the center, continue with the directions below.)–Keith McNally, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson
LC Roast Chicken for Four Note
This mindbendingly moist hen with preternaturally crisp skin is the happy consequence of a super simple equation: Smallish hen + super hot oven = well, we already sort of gave it away. Ordinarily a single hen ought to serve four, although this technique turns out a bird so lovely, it’s best not to leave it to chance. We suggest you instead roast two birds at once, snuggled side by side, in a largish pan. However many hens you roast, don’t forget to clean the oven first, lest any runover remnants from last October’s apple pie trigger your smoke alarm. Oh, and the results work the same regardless of whether you slather the hen silly with the herb butter specified in the recipe below or simply douse it with a little olive oil and coarse sea salt. Think we’re overhyping the recipe? Try it.
Roast Chicken for Two Recipe
Hands-On Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes | Serves 2 (okay, maybe 4)
Ingredients
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped, plus more for garnish
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped, plus more for garnish
- 8 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- One 3 1/2 - to 4-pound chicken, rinsed and dried, wings snipped at the elbow
- 3 heads garlic, split horizontally
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).
- 2. In a small bowl, mash half the rosemary, thyme, and parsley with the softened butter with a fork. Season with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Use your fingertips to slide the herbed butter beneath the skin of the breasts, starting at the opening near the neck and sliding it as far as possible beneath the skin. Stuff the cavity with the remaining chopped herbs and 1 head of garlic. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.
- 3. Heat the oil in a heavy ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. If you wish to sear the bird prior to roasting, truss the chicken with butcher’s twine*. Place the bird on its side in the skillet, searing the leg and breast. Leave it untouched in the pan for at least 4 minutes, turning only when the bird is burnished brown. Turn to brown the other breast side, and then the top and bottom of the bird so that it is well-browned on all sides. Spoon off the excess fat. If you don’t wish to sear the bird prior to roasting, place the chicken in the skillet, breast side up.
- 4. If desired, strew a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme in the pan and place the remaining 2 heads garlic around the bird. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast until the chicken is cooked through, basting occasionally with the pan juices, for about 40 minutes. The bird is done when when the juices run clear from the joint between leg and thigh. If the bid’s skin begins to burn, cover with an aluminum-foil tent. Let stand at least 10 minutes prior to carving.
