Thomas Keller is most known for his landmark 3 Michelin star restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California. French Laundry food is famously exquisite, requiring an insane amount of preparation for each dish. For those patrons who want the Keller touch without the fuss, he has another restaurant in the area, ad hoc, which is known for its home cooking, done incredibly well. Out of the restaurant came the cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home which made its way to our home a while back and into my father’s hands. Normally my dad shows only a mild interest in the various cookbooks that come our way (unless it’s a cookbook featuring sauerkraut and pork, in which case he’s all over it), but this time, not only did dear old dad read the book cover to cover twice, but he enthusiastically tackled Keller’s roast chicken with root vegetables, cooked in a cast iron pan. (I’m guessing it’s because the recipe calls for rutabagas and turnips, dad’s favorite food group next to sauerkraut and pork.) But for whatever reason, this roast chicken recipe is now the only way dad will roast a chicken.
How to Roast Chicken? Practice Makes Perfect
This roast chicken recipe may seem a little involved because you are cooking a whole chicken, but once you get the hang of it, it’s dead easy. Cooking a whole chicken takes practice. The first time dad made this roast chicken dish there was a bit of howling from the kitchen as he tried to get the wishbone out (of the raw whole chicken), or as he attempted to truss the chicken without the drumsticks slipping out of the string. But the results are just so darn good, he kept at it and now puts it together easily. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use a roasting pan without its lid or a sheet pan.
Do You Need to Debone and Truss the Chicken?
For a pretty presentation, these steps are helpful, but they aren’t necessary for this recipe to be successful. Trussing the chicken makes for more even roasting so you may choose to keep this step. Removing the wishbone before roasting simply makes it easier to carve the breast meat — and it can be tricky to do — so skip this step if easy carving isn’t important to you.
When is the Roast Chicken Ready?
Once in the oven, this dish takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook, but oven temperatures can vary. Remove the chicken from the oven when a digital meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165°F.
Sides to Serve with This Simple Roast Chicken
Lemony Broccoli Rabe with White Beans Butternut Squash With Walnuts and Vanilla Cauliflower Mashed “Potatoes” With Browned Butter Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranate-Balsamic Glaze Lion House Rolls
What Keller recommends (and what we do) is to leave the chicken in the refrigerator, uncovered (on a plate and not touching anything else in the fridge), for 1-2 days after buying it, so that the skin gets a bit dried out. It will roast up crispier this way. Then 1 1/2 to 2 hours before it goes in the oven, we put it on a plate on the kitchen counter to come to room temp (about 70 degrees). Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken before you set it out to come to room temp. (Save for stock.) Note that Keller’s original recipe calls for a leek (to be cooked with the root vegetables), which we skip in our adaptation. The chicken must be at room temperature before it goes in the oven, or the chicken will not cook evenly. This is a little bit tricky, but if you can remove the wishbone first, it will make the chicken easier to carve after it is cooked. (This ease of future carving is the only reason to take the bone out, so you can leave it in if you want.) Then cross the string under the breast (above the cavity and between the legs). Wrap each end around the closest leg end, and tie tightly so that the legs come together. Create a bed of the root vegetables in a large cast iron pan (or use a regular roasting pan if you don’t have a cast iron pan.) My father likes to leave out the potatoes at this stage and arrange them around the chicken. You can keep the vegetables warm by keeping them in the now-turned-off oven while the chicken is resting. Stir to coat the vegetables with the cooking juices before serving.
