Cook: Incredible Roast Chicken & Potatoes Dinner

We have been wanting to try Thomas Keller's (of the famed French Laundry) "My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken" recipe for a while. We finally made it last weekend and it was AWESOME. I'm sharing the recipe today so that maybe you can make it this weekend! It's an incredibly easy recipe so don't hesitate to try it. It would work great on a weeknight as well.  We made only very slight modifications to the original recipe shared on epicurious, here is our version.

DeliciousLA 5 lb Roast Chicken and Potatoes (makes 4 to 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• One 5 to 6 pound farm raised chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a few thyme sprigs, plus some 2 Tablespoons minced thyme
• a few rosemary sprigs

• Baby Potatoes (we used a 1.5lb bag of Dutch Yellow baby potatoes), sliced in half
• a little bit of salt 
• 3 garlic cloves sliced 
• a couple of rosemary sprigs
• Drizzle of Olive oil

* You will also need some kitchen twine
* Dijon mustard to serve

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F
2. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. (The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better)
3. Salt and pepper the cavity, stuff a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary in the center
4. Truss the bird. See this video to learn how. 
5. Salt the chicken, TK recommends "raining the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp salty flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon).   Season with pepper
6. Place the chicken in a roasting pan (we didn't use the rack).
7. Prepare the potatoes (halved) by tossing with a drizzle of olive oil (it doesn't need much as later it will cook in chicken fat) with sliced garlic, rosemary springs, and a little bit of salt.
8. Add potatoes to pan surrounding the chicken. Place pan in the oven. 
9. Roast until the chicken is done (the potatoes take the same time) - our chicken took about 60 minutes but cooking times may vary based on your oven. The best way to test doneness is with a meat thermometer. The thighs should be 185F, and the breast should be 165F
10. Remove from oven, and add the minced thyme to the pan. 
11. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let rest for 15 minutes on the cutting board.
12. Remove twine.  Removed legs and thighs and then keep on eating!!!

TK recommends serving with mustard on the side, and slathering the meat with butter. We didn't do the butter part as the chicken was plenty juicy and rich already. This recipe really was worth all the hype. It was the best homemade roast chicken either of us had ever eaten. We served it with delicious beet, gorgonzola and spiced pecan salad and a buttermilk biscuit. Yum!