easy everyday/ Mark Bittman/ Poultry

The Minimalist Simplest Roast Chicken

I can’t be more grateful to have the minimalist simplest roast chicken among my repertoire of goto recipes for everyday cooking. There are several great roast chicken recipes on this blog which I enjoy cooking from time to time. Among them, the iconic Zuni Café roast chicken. However, none is as simple as the ABC of the Mark Bittman’s recipe. It has published multiple times on the New York Times over the past ten years.

This recipe wins for ease and simplicity, hands down. No marinating that takes days to do and plan. No cutting up the whole chicken in pieces. Now that we’re liberated from Covid, normal life, hopefully, may resume. This summer, I’d like to steer towards spending less time in the kitchen and more time for other pursuits.

Summarizing the recipe: these are the ABC of Bittman’s engenuity. A) rub the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle tablespoonfuls of olive oil all over. B) put the seasoned chicken breast-side up in a preheated cast iron skillet in a 500°F oven. After 15 minutes (less for smaller chicken), lower the oven temperature to 350°F. Finally, C) roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 155° to 160°F.

As always, I always choose the smallest chicken I can find. A three-pound chicken is ideal (be sure to check the internal temperature for doneness). As simple as the recipe is, the discovery of the cooking approach is nothing short of extraordinary. The technique works. That means with the quick roasting at high initial temperature (500°F), leaner white meat gets done at the same time as the slower-cooking, fattier dark meat. By and large, that produces the best roast chicken I’ve ever made. Fantastic recipe, well done!

The result is stunning. My husband does not stop commenting how great tasting chicken is. I can see by his expressions how much he enjoys every bite; the man doesn’t even like chicken. For all the ease and amazing outcome, this should be on everybody’s best-recipe list.

The Minimalist: Simplest Roast Chicken | Mark Bittman

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, (my preference is a 3-lb young chicken) trimmed of excess fat
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1

Put a cast-iron skillet on a low rack in the oven and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Rub the chicken all over with the oil and sprinkle it generously with salt and pepper.

2

When the oven and skillet are hot, carefully put the chicken in the skillet, breast side up. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees. Continue to roast until the bird is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh reads 155 to 165 degrees.

3

Tip the pan to let the juices flow from the chicken’s cavity into the pan. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Carve and serve.

Notes

https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/the-minimalist-simplest-roast-chicken/

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    Kim Tracy
    August 1, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    I will have to try this recipe because it looks perfectly cooked! Plus, like you, I like the ease of it. I will have to look up the Zuni recipe as well because I love to try different roast chicken recipes. For the record, Julia Child’s recipe is the best I’ve tried, but also the fussiest.

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