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Seven years ago, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver convinced me to buy and cook a whole chicken. A former vegetarian, I felt strongly that if I was going to continue life as a meat eater, this was a skill I had to learn. Reading the laid-back and reassuring instructions in Oliver's book, Jamie's Dinners, gave me the confidence to take on the process — even though raw meat still made me squeamish.
I marched into Hannaford, determined. But when I picked up the shrink-wrapped bird, I shuddered. It was heavy, kind of floppy and still recognizable as the animal it had been. I frowned at it for a moment, then steeled myself and put it in the cart.
At home, I set to work. I removed the bird from its plastic casing, took a deep breath, poked my hand into the chicken and found — to my relief — that the organs were sealed inside a bag, which I pulled out. Next, I rubbed the bird inside and out with kosher salt and olive oil. I cut a lemon in two, stuffed half of it into the cavity and squeezed the juice from the other half over the top. Then I put the chicken in the oven and hoped for the best.
It was a little dry, under-seasoned and not quite as crispy as I'd hoped it would be. But that first attempt was a game-changer. My family ate it with potatoes — roasted right in the same pan — and a salad. Everyone loved it. At the time, it was the most grown-up dinner I'd ever made. Even now, I still feel a sense of pride and accomplishment whenever I take a lovely, golden chicken out of the oven and serve it to my family.
In any dinner-themed cookbook, you're bound to find a recipe for roasted chicken. And with good reason: It's a classic. The best part? It works for just about any occasion. You can cook one for a big holiday get-together or a regular old family dinner.
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My culinary idol, Nigella Lawson, summed it up best in her book, Feast: "It's less a recipe than a blueprint for life. There are few things that can't be made better by a chicken roasting in the oven."
I probably cook this dish every other week during the cold-weather months. I have tried at least a dozen methods, but the one that follows is my favorite. It uses a lemon, my one non-negotiable roasted-chicken ingredient, and has a surprising, Vermonty twist.
Maple-Roasted Chicken (Serves 4)
Adapted from Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love, by Paul Lowe
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken (organic if possible), 3 1/2-4 pounds
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- 6 shallots, peeled and halved
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus some more for rubbing the chicken
- Salt and black pepper
- 4 or 5 medium white potatoes, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
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Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove any organs from the chicken's cavity.
- Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Put both lemon halves and two shallots inside the cavity and tie the chicken's legs together with kitchen string.
- Rub the chicken all over with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the center of a roasting pan, and scatter the potatoes and remaining shallots around it, then drizzle a little olive oil over them.
- Roast for 30 minutes, then take it out and pour the maple syrup and the 1/4 cup olive oil over the top.
- Lower the oven temp to 375 degrees, and continue to roast for another 45-50 minutes.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature of the bird. Insert it into a thigh, making sure not to touch bone. When you get a reading of 165 degrees, the chicken is done. Feel free to give it an extra few minutes if you want the color darker or the skin a bit crispier (I usually do!). Take it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.
- Serve with a green salad.
