- I don't think that there's anything
more perfect than a chicken,
especially one that is roasted.
Because when done properly,
it's better than literally anything else
that you can make no matter
how extravagant it seems.
[upbeat music]
Most chickens that you're gonna find
are in the three-and-a-half
to four pound range,
which is perfect for four to five people
depending on what else you're
serving, how hungry they are.
But if you're doing something for a crowd,
say eight plus people,
you can put two chickens on a sheet tray.
First things first, we're
gonna season our bird.
You can rub it with
spices, make an herb paste,
but I think that salt and
pepper is kind of the way to go,
especially if you have a
really nice high quality bird,
which this one is.
Isn't she beautiful?
There's a lot of nooks
and crannies and crevices
and secret places.
You wanna get in there.
Oh look at his little wings.
He's on vacation, looking very relaxed.
You cannot go wrong with stuffing it
with lemon, garlic, and herbs.
Kind of the most delicious
thing you can put
inside a chicken.
Really get in there [laughs].
If you're not roasting something
else with your chicken,
like a vegetable or croutons
or something like that,
you're doin' it wrong.
I like using mushrooms
because they get really crispy
and soak up all the fat
and they're like impossibly delicious.
I like to mix as many types as possible
because there are about a million kinds.
These are chanterelles,
there's some shiitakes,
these are maitakes.
I'm gonna just put them
right in the skillet.
And I know you're thinking,
"Oh my god, so many mushrooms!
"How will everything fit?"
Trust in the process.
Just to kinda get them started,
I'm gonna add a little olive oil.
Obviously, season with salt and pepper.
[grinder creaks]
It's like a little Christmas
wreath of mushrooms.
Come here little buddy.
Ah, so nice.
So this is gonna go into a 325 degree oven
for about two hours, maybe
two-and-a-half hours.
It all depends on the
size of your chicken,
how hot your oven is,
what year it was made.
Is it functional?
Who could say?
Because this is like a
relatively savory dish,
you're gonna wanna serve it something
that's really punchy.
We're gonna use some torn radicchio,
some mizuna would be awesome.
Then we're gonna dress it with a
really garlicky mustard vinegarette.
[upbeat music]
Okay, so our chicken is out of the oven.
It looks amazing and is
really nicely browned.
A lot of the fat has rendered
out into the skillet,
the mushrooms get tossed
in it, it's amazing.
After two-and-a-half hours in the oven,
your chicken is almost
definitely cooked through.
But a good way to tell,
sort of, just in general is,
you wiggle the leg and
it wants to be freed
from the rest of the bird.
You can kind of press here.
Yeah, so I think that's about it
and I think we're ready
to eat. [upbeat music]
