Melissa found this one in Thomas Keller’s Bouchon cookbook, then added veggies and starch to make it an entire meal.

Simple Roast Chicken and then Some

You’ll need:

A whole chicken (2 or 3 pounds)
6 new potatoes, quartered
2 handfuls of baby carrots
1 teaspoon minced thyme (fresh!)
1 teaspoon minced parsley (ditto!)
2 tablespoons (maybe more, maybe less) kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

This recipe might go against everything you know about roasting chickens. There will be no basting – the idea is to get that bird dry and keep it that way. You’ll get the crispiest skin you’ve ever tasted. A real treat.

Preheat the oven to 450. If you live at high elevation like I do, and you have a convection oven, use the “Convection Bake” setting. Not bake, not pure convection, but the combo. I’ve found that setting evens out the time difference between low and high elevation cooking. Anyway.

Dry the chicken thoroughly, inside and out, using as many paper towels as it takes. Season the inside with pepper and kosher salt. If you’ve never trussed a bird, now’s your chance. Get some string and tie the wings and legs close to the body.

Season the outside with more pepper and kosher salt, about one tablespoon. Don’t worry about the pepper, but get the salt as evenly distributed as you can. Keller suggests “raining” the salt over the bird.

Put the bird in roasting pan and pop it in the oven. Don’t baste, don’t peek, don’t do nothin’ for 25 minutes.

While you’re waiting, quarter the potatoes and if needed, dry them just like you did the chicken. Same goes for the carrots.

When the bird has been in the oven for 25 minutes, add the potatoes to the roasting pan. After 15 more minutes, add the carrots, too.

When the chicken is done (after 55 minutes, give or take), remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the minced herbs over everything in the pan. Now would be a good time to open a bottle of Pinot Noir. Or if you really want to get with the French thing, a decent bottle of dry red burgundy.

Carve the chicken. Nothing fancy, just get the legs (with thighs attached) and wings off, then slice the breasts. Here’s the really fun part: slather all the bits with unsalted butter. Get them good and gooey.

NOTE: Butter, crispy skin, and chicken fat. Mmmmm.

Get your plates and give everyone whatever bird piece they want, along with a helping of carrots and potatoes. Then add a large dollop of Dijon mustard to each plate – it’s for slathering on each bite of chicken.

This should serve four people, but really only two or maybe three. The leftovers, if any, are outstanding.