A Chicken for Mara
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Ingredients
  • One small chicken, 2½ to 3½-pounds
  • a few sprigs of parsley, flat leaf is my fave
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • A little water
Instructions
  1. Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat very dry inside and out. Be thorough — a wet chicken will spend too much time steaming before it begins to turn golden brown.
  2. Approaching from the edge of the cavity, slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, making 2 little pockets. Now use the tip of your finger to gently loosen a pocket of skin on the outside of the thickest section of each thigh. Using your finger, shove an herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.
  3. Season the chicken liberally all over and inside the cavitywith salt and pepper. Twist and tuck the wing tips behind the shoulders. Cover loosely and refrigerate, for one hour, or as long as two days.
  4. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place a 10-12-inch cast iron frying pan over medium heat. Wipe the chicken dry and set it breast side up in the pan. It should sizzle.
  5. Place the chicken in the pan in the center of the oven. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce temperature by 25 degrees. After about 30 minutes, turn the bird over (drying the bird and preheating the pan should keep the skin from sticking). Roast for another 20 minutes, depending on size, then flip back over to recrisp the breast skin, another 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Remove the chicken from the oven and turn off the heat. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set it in a bowl. Slash the stretched skin between the thighs and breasts of the chicken so it stays propped upright. Now let the chicken rest for 10-20 minutes... it gets better the longer you wait.
  7. Place the roasting pan over medium-low heat, add any juice that has collected under the chicken, and bring to a simmer. Stir and scrape to soften any hard golden drippings. Add a little water if needed.
  8. Use this to sauté chopped kale, onions, or broccolini, or toss with arugula for a delicious accompaniment to the chicken.
Recipe by Pigforkr at http://www.pigforkr.com/achickenformara/