Simple Roasted Chicken

I've long considered myself a cookie expert. Whole chickens, turkeys, roasts - not so much. I cook them, sure, but haven't quite reached the point where I want to give others advice from my techniques. This recipe for a simple roasted chicken seems so failproof that I've started to gain a little confidence in my abilities. Or maybe it's just this recipe.

This chicken turned out very moist with a crispy, tasty skin. And it didn't require brining or any other lengthy preparation. Even trussing the bird wasn't hard after watching a tutorial. I will definitely be making this again. We ate some of the chicken as a main dish, then I shredded the remaining chicken for another meal, and last made chicken stock out of the remaining bones.

Simple Roasted Chicken
from Epicurious

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

Unsalted butter
Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Click here for a quick tutorial about how to truss a bird.

Now, salt the chicken by sprinkling about 1 tablespoon salt evenly over the chicken. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint. Remove the legs and thighs. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad.