World's Greatest Roast Chicken

When I first married Mr Soup, I was a vegetarian. I had no business making a roast chicken (oh, remind me some day to tell you about the midadventures with bad chicken cooking when we were first married - I still have an aversion to chicken thighs...). But, Ina Garten made a roast chicken every Friday night for Jeffry. I felt...inspired. We were just weeks into our shiney new marriage. Playing house still. Mr Soup had to go out of town. So, I decided to make him a roast chicken for his triumphant return. I pulled out a copy of Barbara Kofka's Way to Roast.

Barbara advises roasting chicken at 10 minutes per pound in a 500 degree oven. Not knowing what a radical concept this is to most chicken eaters I plowed ahead. My first effort was perfect. It came out crispy and juicy. Mr Soup was suitably impressed. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to eat an 8lb chicken all by himself, but spent many days working on it. Ahhh...newly wed love!

I've made some modifications to this since then - first and foremost, I now eat it too. (another remind me later to tell you how THAT came about...)

Perfect Roast Chicken:

Preheat oven to 500 Degrees

I use a smaller chicken 5-6 lbs. I take it out of the fridge for about an hour before I plan on putting it in the oven. I know, I know, but roasting at such a high temperature will kill anything the chicken police worry about...

I wash it, pat it dry and season it well inside and out with salt and pepper. When I have it on hand, I'll cut up an lemon to stuff into the bird, along with garlic and rosemary or other fresh herbs. I'll also squeeze lemon juice all over the skin. It comes out extra crisy.

I use my large, 11" oven proof skillet. This exposes more of the surface area of the chicken to the heat of the oven. I cut up an onion into large rings and place at the bottom of the pan. This make a lovely pan juice while the chicken roasts.

Pop it into the oven for 10 minutes per pound. No peaking. No cheating. No opening the oven just to see if it is working....When your timer dings, pull the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes before serving.

One of our favorite treats is to make homemade croutons to serve along with the chicken. This is and idea from (guess who) Ina. She cuts up a bagette and toasts it in olive oil with salt and pepper and places the chicken on top. I also drizzle some of the pan drippings on them. Oh My. Sunday's Roast Chicken is a miracle.

Nothing cuter than seeing the Little Mr Soup doing a Henry the 8th impersonation with a leg in each hand.