Perfectly Roasted Chicken

Not only do I love to eat and cook, I love to watch cooking shows, read cookbooks and follow lots of food blogs as well. I got the idea of putting Creme Fraiche on my roasted chicken by watching The Barefoot Contessa.  I learned about butter vs. olive oil on a blog.  I love using herbs and lemon to stuff the cavity of the chicken because I love the flavor they give the bird.  I'm convinced, and my husband agrees, that by combining several techniques and recipes together, I have indeed perfected the roasted chicken.

Ingredients:

1 Organic whole chicken (with giblets removed)

8 Sprigs of fresh thyme

2 Lemons and their zest

1/2 Stick of room temperature butter

Sea salt

Cracked black pepper

Garlic salt

2 Heaping tablespoons of Creme Fraiche

Directions:

The first step in making this chicken is preparation.  You will need to plan when you are going to make this meal at least one day in advance.  Remove the chicken from it's packaging and clean the cavity.  You do not need to rinse the bird.  It isn't necessary and it will increase the potential of spreading bacteria.  Toss out the packaging and place your chicken in a baking dish.  Pat dry and salt liberally.  Place in fridge for at least 8 hours and preferably over night.  This ensures that the skin is completely dry (the salt will draw out moisture) which will result in crispy skin.  

On the day you are making the bird remove from the fridge 30 minutes prior to baking.  You will need to preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  While it is preheating zest your lemons and slice one in half.  Transfer your bird to a cast iron skillet, dutch oven or roasting pan. (You can just use a baking dish if you don't have one of these.)  Salt and pepper the cavity and stuff with lemon and 1/2 of your thyme. Massage the outside of the bird with the room temperature butter.  Then lightly sprinkle with salt (you don't need too much since you already liberally salted once) and more generously sprinkle with garlic powder and pepper.  Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh of the chicken.  When the oven comes to 425 inset chicken with legs pointing toward the back of the oven. 

Baste the chicken with the drippings every 15 minutes or so.  While the chicken is cooking add creme fraiche, lemon zest, juice of lemon 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper and thyme removed from stems to a bowl and stir until combined.  When the chicken reaches 150 degrees remove from oven and baste with creme fraiche mixture.  Place chicken back in oven and continue to cook until the thermometer reaches 165.  Remove and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.  

Best bird, guaranteed!