Thomas Keller’s recipe is the easiest and tastiest you’ll come across
I’ve taken slight poetic licence here
1 free range organic whole chicken 2-3 lbs ( somewhere in this weight range)
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt or to your taste
fresh ground peppercorns
dried herbs, thyme, rosemary. Your choice. I had leftover fresh basil which I froze and sprinkled over chicken
Harvested organic rosemary and lavender from out garden, with stems. Placed in bottom of pot to act as rack to set chicken on for roasting, to help infuse Flavors from the bottom up!
1 earl grey tea bag
method:
Wash inside and outside of chicken and dry with paper towel
sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper…no oil, truss chicken, helps it to cook evenly and creates a nice presentation
as you can see, I use my porcelain covered cast iron pot
place lavender and rosemary stems and leaves in bottom of pot
place seasoned chicken on top
put pot / chicken with no lid, in fridge overnight ( this will help chicken skin to dry and create a wonderful crispy crust which traps juices in meat)
Next day bring chicken to room temp (1-2 hours)
pre heat oven to 450
roast chicken to 165, 50-60 minutes
let chicken rest on cutting board for 20 minutes, seals the juices
jus
Leave all stems and juice in pot with any from cutting board
i threw the wings in pot as well. I’m not a big fan to eat by themselves, but they have some great flavour to add to jus.
open up tea Bag and throw in tea
add a couple cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup white wine if you have it kicking around
simmer to reduce and thicken with cornstarch if you wish
The lavender really stands out and seduces your senses!!
serve with organic stone ground dijon
good luck getting it to the table…it’s usually gone straight from the cutting board
i served mine with mulled wine braised purple cabbage and onion
my apology if this is not an easy recipe to follow. I prepare this by feel and it’s a challenge to translate.
its actually really easy, if you just do the roast chicken