Salt-Marinated Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic, and Herbs

Makes 4 to 6 servings

THE SIMPLEST AND MOST DELICIOUS Mediterranean meal imaginable centers around a plain, humble, but nonetheless beautiful roast chicken. There are so many ways to serve it—

• on its own with an uncomplicated green salad;
• garnished with a whole selection of root vegetables—potatoes, carrots, little turnips, perhaps some celery root if you can find it—cut in chunks and braised in the pan drippings while the bird roasts;
• alternatively, garnished with summery vegetables, such as eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, all cut in chunks and added to the pan to roast along with the chicken;
• with a savory rice pilaf, or—and this is a great eastern Mediterranean favorite—bulgur wheat toasted with onions and pine nuts and steamed in a light stock made from the innards of the bird.

So often with roast chicken (or any other bird, for that matter), by the time the thighs are cooked through, the breast meat is overdone, dry and unappetizing. Salting the bird liberally inside and out, as described below, and refrigerating, lightly covered, overnight or longer (up to three days) helps to solve that problem. I don’t know the science behind it, but the technique works to balance out the moistness in a very satisfying way.

The best, most flavorful chicken, I’m convinced, comes from free-range birds that have been left in relative liberty to move around a chicken yard. I buy chickens like these in my local farmers’ market and in health food stores and co-ops. Not only is the flavor more developed but, it seems to me, the texture of the birds is more interesting, not tough but with a pleasant chewiness that is a long way from the mushy texture of industrially produced birds.

If you don’t have time to marinate the chicken in salt, not to worry. It’s almost as good without the salt marinade—but in that case, sprinkle the bird inside and out with about a teaspoon of sea salt.

3½- to 4-pound roasting chicken, preferably free-range

3 teaspoons sea salt

2 plump garlic cloves

1 fresh lemon, preferably organic

2 or 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

HERBS (OPTIONAL)

4 rosemary sprigs

4 flat-leaf parsley sprigs

1 tablespoon minced thyme or ½ tablespoon dried oregano, crumbled

½ cup dry white wine for the sauce or gravy

Rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out in cool running water, then dry it well, inside and out, with paper towels. Rub the chicken all over, inside and out, with salt, using the full 3 teaspoons. Wrap the chicken loosely in plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator overnight or for two to three days.

When ready to cook, set the oven at 450 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and pat it dry all over with paper towels, rubbing off any excess salt. (The chicken will have absorbed some of the salt flavor during the marinating.) Set the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan.

Crush the garlic cloves with the flat blade of a knife, discarding the skins. Toss the garlic into the cavity of the bird. Grate the zest of the lemon and set aside. Cut the lemon in half and cut one of the halves into four pieces, reserving the other half. Toss the smaller pieces into the cavity, squeezing gently to release a little juice.

Pour a tablespoon of oil in the palm of your hand and rub the upper part of the chicken all over with the oil. Grind a liberal quantity of pepper over the surface of the bird.

If you wish to add the herbs, strip the leaves (needles) from the rosemary and chop, along with the parsley and lemon zest. Add either fresh thyme or dried oregano (not both) and mix well. Use this mixture to slip between the skin and flesh of the chicken breasts, gently forcing the skin and flesh apart without tearing the skin. (If this is difficult, rub half the mixture over the surface and scatter the rest inside the cavity.)

Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and let the chicken roast, breast up, for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is turning golden. If the breast starts to blacken and blister, reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Roast for another 10 minutes, then turn the bird so the back is uppermost. Dribble another tablespoon of olive oil over the back and grind lots of black pepper on top. Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the bird once more. Squeeze the juice of the reserved lemon half over the breast and return to the oven for a final 20 minutes. The bird will have roasted for an hour and 15 to 20 minutes and should be well done. (If you prefer it slightly less cooked, roast the final turn for just 10 minutes.)

The chicken is done when a meat thermometer inserted in the inner thigh reads 180 degrees (don’t let the thermometer touch the bone, as it will give a faulty reading), or when the juices run clear yellow when you pierce the thigh with a fork. Remove from the oven and set the bird aside for 15 minutes or so before serving.

If you wish to make a sauce for the chicken, remove and discard as much of the fat from the pan as you can. Add wine to the pan and over medium-high heat bring the wine to a boil, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon. When the wine has reduced by half and made a rather syrupy glaze, turn all the juices into a sieve set over a bowl. Press the solid bits to extract as much flavor as possible.

If there’s still a lot of fat in the sauce, set it in the refrigerator—or better yet, the freezer—for 15 to 20 minutes to let the fat rise and start to solidify. That will make it easier to remove and discard it, but be sure to reheat the sauce before serving it with the carved chicken. There should be just enough thick, rich sauce for a tablespoon or two with each serving.