Whole Chicken Roast

A few years ago my old friend Jeremy introduced me to Thomas Keller's simple whole roasted chicken recipe. This was a pretty life-changing recipe. While I didn't apply his entire method to this specific chicken roast, I did take a few key steps that I've learned make all chickens juicy, and incredibly flavorful. If you have a chance to try Thomas Keller's recipe as-is, I highly recommend it!
Here are the three most important things to consider to ensure a juicy bird:

1. Making sure you took it out of the fridge ahead of time, and getting it as close to room temperature as possible
2. DRYING your chicken, inside and out
3. Rubbing the salt & pepper, again, both inside and out (I know, it can be icky, but so worth it in the end)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (mine was 3.5lbs)
• 1/2 stick butter
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• Thyme & Oregano leaves (or substitute with your preferred herbs)
• 5-7 Small Potatoes
• 2 Carrots
• 4 small yellow onions
• 1 head of garlic

Process:

• Preheat oven to 450
• Slice your potatoes however you prefer - halves or sliced as pictured above - then parboil for 3-4 minutes. (Parboil is just partially cooking them so that they can cook thoroughly while roasting with the chicken)
• Chop your carrots, onions, and any other veggies you want to add. Slice off the top of your garlic (do not peel) and set aside.
• As mentioned above, make sure you took your chicken out ahead of time so that it's not too cold before cooking. Use paper towels to thoroughly dry the outside and the inside. More on why you need to do this in the article linked above.
• Rub sea salt & black pepper thoroughly inside and out of the chicken (the inside is very important!)
• Place your garlic head and a few sprigs of thyme and oregano inside of the chicken.
• Place the chicken in the cast iron skillet (I used a 12 inch) and assemble your vegetables around.
• In separate small pot, bring your 1/2 stick of butter to melt on medium heat with some of the herbs you've collected. Bring to low and allow the butter to lightly simmer for 3-5 minutes.
• Pour the butter/herb mixture over your veggies and chicken. I had a lot of herbs in my garden, so I went overboard! Place in oven and cook for 50-60 minutes (Just like Thomas Keller)

Enjoy this juicy, delicious Roasted Chicken :)