I’ve made a lot of roast chicken over the last few years. My favorite though is a basic roast chicken made with just a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Last year, I started roasting my chickens in a cast iron pan over a bed of diagonally sliced baguette after I had the most amazing roast chicken served in a cast iron pan at a restaurant in Maine. This was two summers ago when I traveled to Maine to visit my close friend, Ada. It was my first time visiting Ada since she had moved to Maine and like the good host she was, she made reservations at all of these quaint places for both Colleen and I to see throughout our stay in Portland. Even before I landed in Maine, Ada had been raving about Fore Street Restaurant, a rustic restaurant located in Portland. She described the lines for the restaurant as impossibly long. We didn’t expect to be able to get a table at the restaurant, but luckily, when we spontaneously showed up one evening in July (just a couple minutes before the restaurant opened its doors for its evening shift), we were able to get a table right away. One of the dishes we ordered off the menu was half of a roasted chicken. The chicken was served over a bed of sliced baguette. The chicken was so succulent, moist, and seasoned to perfection. While the chicken was fantastic, the bread which sat at the bottom of the chicken was even better. Throughout the cooking process, the bread had absorbed all of the delicious juices released by the chicken. The cast iron pan also gave the bread a wonderful crust at the bottom. Ada and I could not stop eating the bread until both the chicken and bread were gone. The roasted chicken was definitely a very memorable dish. To this day, I can still remember how wonderful the chicken turned out. For my anniversary celebration with Kevin, I wanted to recreate a roasted chicken in its most basic form using the same technique I saw at Fore Street Restaurant. I diagonally sliced up a baguette, arranged the sliced pieces of bread in one layer in my cast iron pan, placed a whole chicken seasoned with just salt and pepper, and then roasted the chicken away in the oven for 90 minutes. When the chicken was done roasting, it emitted the most delightful aroma. The skin had crisped up in the oven. The bread had absorbed all of the wonderful juices from the chicken. Everything about the chicken was just perfect. While I cannot bring Kevin to the restaurant, I was able to bring my favorite dish from the restaurant in its most basic form to Kevin. I just hope one day I can take Kevin to Fore Street Restaurant so he can taste the roasted chicken for himself.
Salt and Pepper Roast Chicken:
· 6 pound whole chicken, rinsed and innards removed
· 2 teaspoons kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 baguette, day old and sliced diagonally into ½ inch pieces
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425°F.
2) Arrange the day old sliced baguette in one layer on the cast iron pan. Set aside.
3) Sprinkle the salt and pepper all over the whole chicken. Lay the whole chicken over the bread with the breasts facing up. Truss the ends of the chicken with oven safe twine by looping the twine over the drumsticks and tying the strings into a bow.
4) Place the cast iron pan in the preheated oven. Roast the chicken for an hour and 15 minutes. Turn off the heat in the oven and let the chicken rest in the oven for another 15 minutes before removing. Once removed, let the chicken rest for another 30 minutes before serving.
Takeaways: The roast chicken can be elevated by adding lemon, herbs, and aromatics. One of my favorite variations of roast chicken is my anniversary roast chicken made using salt, pepper, and lemon. I’ve also made roast chicken using fresh herbs such as thyme and rosemary and aromatics such as onion and garlic. Feel free to play around with different citrus, herbs, and aromatics to create your perfect roast chicken.