I hold the belief that the roast chicken is underrated very true to my heart. It’s quite simple to make and deeply nourishing. It might be greedy, but I would argue it’s above the waterline on the greedy-to-gluttonous iceberg. It’s a shame it’s not more prominent in today’s culinary zeitgeist. My friends that like to cook are always talking about the branzino they made, and never the roast chicken. It’s not like the two are even that different.

My appreciation for the dish is attributed shamelessly to Keith McNally. My early adventures in cooking it, guided by YouTube chefs and poor intuition, always resulted in something that was good, but came with instructions and ‘hacks’ that turned the process into something that you’d come across in a lab manual. The Balthazaar cookbook, gifted to me some five years ago, informed me that if you want to make it like a real Frenchman (like Keith, obviously), you just need to butter the thing and pop it in an oven. This strategy is the soul of the dish and the driving force in what makes it so good. You’re doing minimal work and enjoying maximal pleasure. Can you tell it’s a staple of French cuisine?

I roast a chicken more than the average individual, I think. It’s on my table at least once every two months. The decision to make it is guided by a feeling I’ll get when I wake up. It’s never my decision. I would call it a spiritual exercise. It’s quite ritualistic.

My most recent iteration of the dish, pictured below, was quite good. I am providing a recipe, sharing the joy, etc. I also love fennel, which they had at the store, so I combined the two.

Ingredients

• Chicken - the quality matters; get this from a farm or somewhere that cares about humanely raising livestock. Whatever is labelled ‘local’ at Whole Foods is good. It should be on the small size (<4 pounds). I was just making this for myself so I got a half-chicken. I would not get anything broken down smaller than this.
• Butter
• Fennel Bulb
• Two Shallots
• 28oz. Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• Orzo
• Salt, Pepper, etc.

Directions

1. Before cooking, pat the chicken dry and cover the skin in kosher salt. Let this sit for 10-30 minutes. Dry the skin again after.
2. Separate the fronds from the fennel bulb. Combine some of these with softened butter, salt, and pepper. Rub this under the chicken’s skin.
3. Slice the fennel and quarter the shallots.
4. Heat a neutral oil in an oven-safe pan and brown the chicken’s skin on all sides. Add the fennel and shallots to the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until to temperature. If the skin burns a little, that makes the dish better.
5. While the chicken cooks, crush the tomatoes by hand in a bowl. Heat a tablespoon-ish of butter in a saucepan and add the tomatoes. Let this simmer for 10 minutes to reduce slightly.
6. Once the chicken is removed, add the fennel and shallots to the tomatoes, and blend until smooth. Salt to taste. The acidity can be balanced with sugar if desired.
7. Make orzo and serve with the sauce. If you want, you can cook the orzo in the sauce for a few minutes to make something that’s like a risotto. I did that.