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Fastest Roast Chicken

Source of Recipe


From "The Minimalist Cooks Dinner" by Mark Bittman






List of Ingredients



• 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 lbs.)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  






Instructions



1. Preheat the oven to 450º F. Five minutes after turning on the oven, place a cast-iron skillet or other heavy, ovenproof skillet on a rack set low in the oven. (Alternatively, put the skillet over high heat about 3 minutes before the oven is hot.) Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
   
   
2. When the oven is hot, about 10 minutes later, carefully place the chicken, breast-side up, in the hot skillet.
   
   
3. Roast, undisturbed, for 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh registers 155º F. Remove from the oven, let rest for a minute or two, then carve and serve.
   
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   KEYS TO SUCCESS
   
   * The key is to start the chicken in a hot skillet -- cast-iron is best -- and put it into a very hot oven. Preheating the pan gets the bottom of the bird cooking first and fastest. And, quite fortuitously, that's the part (the meaty thigh) that takes the longest to cook.
   
   * You can start preheating the skillet on top of the stove if you prefer that to the oven, and it has one advantage: You can get the pan blazing hot, and it's marginally easier to put the chicken into it. But be aware that putting a chicken in a hot skillet will produce volumes of smoke almost instantly -- you'll want to get that skillet into the oven right away.
   
   * To make a quick gravy while the chicken is resting: Pour out most of the fat, put the skillet over high heat, and add about a cup of water, wine or stock. Cook, stirring and scraping, until just about 1/2 cup of liquid is left. Season with salt and pepper and, if you're feeling extravagant, a tablespoon or two of butter.
   
   * Rub the chicken with olive oil and/or any herbs you like about halfway through the cooking -- especially good is a bit of tarragon, or a mixture of chopped rosemary and garlic.