Sunday Table · All year
Sunday Roast Chicken with Garden Herbs
A bird, a pan of vegetables, and enough quiet to let the house smell like peace.
About 1 hour 40 minutes · Serves 5 · 5 generous plates, plus a carcass for broth
“Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.”
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 4 to 5 pounds
- 2 tbsp olive oil or softened butter
- 1 ½ tsp fine salt, plus more for the vegetables
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 lemon, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 6 sprigs of thyme
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut in large pieces
- 1 ½ lb potatoes, halved
- a small handful of parsley, to finish
Method
- 1
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 425°F. Pat the bird very dry, including the cavity. Dry skin is what browns.
- 2
Rub the oil or butter over the skin. Salt and pepper it well, including a pinch inside the cavity. Tuck the lemon, garlic, and half the herbs into the bird. Tie the legs if you like a tidy shape; it is not required.
- 3
Toss the carrots and potatoes with a little olive oil or butter, salt, and the remaining herbs. Spread them in a roasting pan or a heavy skillet and set the chicken on top, breast up.
- 4
Roast 15 minutes at 425°F, then lower the heat to 375°F. Continue until the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F and the juices run clear, usually 50 to 70 minutes more. If the breast is browning too fast, tent it loosely with foil.
- 5
Move the chicken to a board and rest it 15 minutes. The vegetables can stay in the warm oven. Resting is not fussiness. It keeps the meat from running dry the moment you carve.
- 6
Carve and scatter parsley over the pan. Serve the vegetables with the drippings. Save every bone for broth the next day.
From the kitchen
- Salt the chicken the night before, uncovered in the refrigerator, if you want deeper seasoning and drier skin. Skip the extra salt in the rub the next day.
- A Sunday table does not need matching plates. It needs enough food that a neighbor could walk in without you scrambling.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
Alongside this
Sunday Table
Chicken and Dumplings
A pot of chicken and vegetables, then soft dumplings dropped on top and left alone under the lid.
About 1 hour 30 minutes
Sunday Table
Butter-Crust Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken, carrots, and peas in a milk gravy, under a crust made of butter and flour. One dish for the table.
About 1 hour 30 minutes
Sunday Table
Dutch Oven Pot Roast
A chuck roast, seared, then left alone in a low oven until a fork goes in without an argument.
3 hours 45 minutes