Roast Chicken is one of my ultimate comfort foods. (Especially when served with mashed potatoes and jus!) But honestly, my previous home-roasted chickens were a little disappointing. Sometimes dry, sometimes lacking that crispy skin, all of the time just not worth the effort.
Then I saw a video of “Magic Faux-Tisserie Chicken” (appropriately soundtracked by Sexy Bitch) on blogger Serena Wolf’s Instagram and I was inspired to try again. Welp. Hands down: the best roast chicken I’ve ever made.
I learned a few of things from this recipe. One: paprika is the secret to that beautiful, deep brown skin. Is that cheating? Maybe. But look at that color! Two: brown sugar is a game changer. Extra caramelization and not sweet-tasting at all. Three: slow-roasting is the way to go. No question. I will never make a whole chicken any other way.
Adapted from Serena Wolf’s Magic Faux-Tisserie Chicken in The Dude Diet*.
Serves four.
Ingredients
- 1 4-5 lb whole chicken
- ½ head of garlic, cloves peeled and smashed
- 1 lemon, cut into eighths
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1½ teaspoons paprika
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 300° F.
Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the smoked paprika, regular paprika, salt, sugar, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder and cumin. Mix to combine and set aside.
Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken, and pat the outside of the bird dry with paper towel. Stuff the cavity with the garlic and half of the lemon. Gently run your hands under the skin of the bird to detach it from the breasts. There will be a thin membrane down the middle– try your best to break through this without tearing the skin. Then, rub about a tablespoon each of the olive oil and spice mixture onto the breasts under the skin. Rub the remaining oil all over the outside of the bird (top, bottom, legs, wings). Follow with the rest of the spices.
Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and place the bird breast side up in a roasting pan. Cook for 3 hours. At the 1½ hour mark, baste the chicken by spooning any drippings over the top. At the 2½ hour mark, baste again, and add the remaining lemon wedges to the pan.
Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. Garnish with the roasted lemon and serve with any remaining drippings on the side. They’re delicious over the chicken and any starch you choose to serve with it!
