I’m sure they wouldn’t like to admit it, but even some of the world’s most accomplished home cooks struggle when attempting to roast the perfect chicken. The fact is it’s far easier to make a roasted chicken look good than it is to make it taste good. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat down to enjoy what I believed to be a perfectly roasted chicken — the quintessential golden brown bird flecked with black pepper and fragrant herbs — only to cut into the thing and find it bone dry or worse, still raw at the bone. Or, and this is perhaps worst of all, a combination of both, so that you end up hacking it up and destroying the only thing it had going for it: its good looks.
But this roast chicken? Well, it’s an entirely different beast, or rather, bird. First, it’s the smell. An intoxicating aroma of garlic will start you salivating. Then you’ll notice the skin. Not only is it golden brown, it’s crisp, like really crisp. And beneath that exterior you’ll find the juiciest and most tender chicken you’ve ever cut into. But it’s the flavor that will leave you coming back for more. The marinade’s combination of garlic, mustard, soy sauce and herbes de provence create a flavor that is at once familiar and completely unexpected. In addition to the marinade, the cooking method is also unique. Unlike typical whole roasted chicken, this recipe calls for you to butterfly the bird. Not only does this help the meat cook more evenly, but it also allows you to sear the bottom of the chicken before throwing it in the oven and cook it in half the time of a usual whole roasted chicken. Sound perfect? It is. But don’t take my word for it.
