This is my standard roast chicken recipe. It is very simple but it does require some prep work. It's worth it though. Roast chicken just wants to be served with vegetable sides. Some good pairings: Cold cucumber salads, roast beets, sauteed zucchini, wilted kale with garlic. Enjoy!
1 whole chicken
salt and pepper
any herbs or spices that suit your taste
Butterfly the chicken. Basically, this just means removing the backbone. There are a great many tutorials online showing how to do this in detail. This is an important step in roasting a chicken because in its de-backboned, flattened shape, all parts of the chicken will cook evenly. If you've ever roasted a whole chicken, you know that the problem is always either overcooked or under cooked meat. Butterflying eliminates this problem.
Rub salt, pepper, and herbs/spices over the bird. The salt pulls the moisture out of the chicken and redistributes it back in, only in a saltier, herb-ier form. I usually do 2-3 teaspoons of salt for a 4 lb chicken.
Let rest in fridge, uncovered, as long as possible. The dry chill dries out the skin which makes it extra crispy when you roast it.
Pull the chicken out of the fridge. Preheat your oven to 450. Heat a large cast iron skillet with oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, breast side down and fry 8 minutes. Flip, and fry another 8 minutes. Put the whole cast iron skillet in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the juices of the chicken run clear when pricked in the thigh. Pull out of oven, and let rest 10 minutes before cutting.