Roast Chicken IV

MWR had suggested that I try the Chez Panisse and Simply French roast chicken recipes, and since he was going to be passing through on Sunday, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. So, Chez Panisse it was. It's quite a simple recipe, involving rubbing the chicken inside and out with a spicy rub, shoving a handful of fresh thyme in the cavity, and roasting it until it's done, in a pan with no rack, no turning, no basting. In other words, no funny stuff.

Spice-Rubbed Roast Chicken

1 t fennel seed
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground black pepper
bunch fresh thyme
4 lb roasting chicken, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first four ingredients in mortar and pestle and grind to crack fennel seeds. Remove giblets and excess fat from chicken cavity, and rub chicken inside and out with salt mixture. Stuff thyme inside cavity. Put chicken in roasting pan and roast for about an hour, or until thigh temp is 165 and breast no more than 170. Remove from oven and let rest 10-15 minutes before carving.

Here it is before popping it in the oven (note: this is not a four-pound chicken! It was the last one in the coop that day, so it's a 5.25-pounder).



Sous-chef/dinner guest MWR brandishing the chicken as we flip it onto its tummy to rest.



Resting chicken before I tented it with foil.



The flavor, with the fennel and red pepper, was really lovely. We overcooked it a tad, so the breast meat wasn't as moist as I like, but the flavorings were worth doing again for sure.

We had ganache-filled and cream-cheese-frostinged mini cupcakes for dessert, and once again I forgot to photograph them with their pretty pink frosting on. Here's what it looked like after we had consumed a dozen.