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Sep 24

Roast Chicken for your Last Supper on Earth?

What would choose for your last supper, roast chicken? Top Chef Thomas Keller would.

What would be your last supper? Chefs and cooks play this game all the time so author Melanie Dunn interviewed 50 top chefs and wrote My Last Supper. Surprisingly, most chefs wanted some simply prepared item where the main ingredient shines. Thomas Keller is arguably the best chef in the U.S. , where at his Napa Valley French Laundry restaurant you dine on 15 outrageously inventive courses that change almost daily. Ironically, Chef Keller’s last supper request is a simply prepared roast chicken, some brie cheese, and cream puffs for dessert. You can buy brie and cream puffs at Wohlner’s. Today let’s focus on cooking Chef Keller’s last supper chicken.

Chef Thomas Keller

Thomas Keller’s Roast Chicken: So simple a caveman could do it.

A caveman did do it–fowl seasoned with salt and roasted by high heat. Maybe that is why it’s so good–it’s so primal and sensual that it satisfies our most ancient appetites. Good enough even for a modern day chef. Crispy salty skin and moist flavorful meat—it’s timeless.

Cavemen critiquing Keller’s French Laundry Restaurant

They loved the Rutherford Napa Chardonnay with Keller’s chicken

I have trouble even calling this a recipe. It’s not a recipe, it’s a simple cooking technique thus I don’t feel like I am neither plagiarizing nor rationalizing. I do think he cooks it a bit higher temperature than most cooks, but so did the caveman.

The key differences with Keller’s roast chicken method are a) use more kosher salt, more than most cooks use, b) don’t rub butter nor oil the chicken, and don’t baste it while cooking, and c) cook at a higher oven temperature, 450f degress is about 100 degrees higher than is typical. Butter, oil and basting would create steam which would prevent the skin from getting crisp. Only after the chicken is cooked do you add herbs, baste, and use butter.

OK, here is world famous chef Thomas Keller’s Last Supper roast chicken:

1 chicken, about 3 pounds
Kosher Salt, plenty of kosher salt
Black Pepper
Roast in a 450f oven until done (about 45 to 50 minutes)

That’s it. I told you a cave man could do it.
The key to success are to dry the chicken, plenty of salt, and high heat.

Method

Rinse chicken and use paper towels to dry it very well inside and out—you want to avoid any steam. Salt and pepper inside the chicken. Truss the legs and wings (easy to do but I have read many people skip the trussing and get good results.)

Next, and here is one of the key items, salt the outside of the chicken with at least 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, you wants lots of salt and a uniform coating so you will end up with crisp, salty, flavorful skin. Season with some black pepper. Now roast at a hot 450 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Don’t baste while cooking, don’t use any butter, no herbs, nothing, at least not yet.

The chicken is fully cooked when the juices run clear upon poking into the thigh meat next to the body of the chicken.

Remove from oven (optional, add 2 tsp of minced thyme to the pan juices). Now baste the chicken with the juices and thyme. Remove from pan and let rest on cutting board for 15 minutes.

More Discussion

Keller cuts the chicken up and slathers the meat in unsalted butter, serves mustard on the side and sometimes has a simple green salad on the side. In keeping with Keller’s meal this blogging caveman will have a nice low oak chardonnay(Rutherford, Napa) and brie cheese while the chicken is roasting. With the chicken finish your chardonnay, some merlot, pinot noir, or a cote d’ Rhone. If you decide on one of the reds, open them and let them breathe while the chicken cooks. (You could serve profiteroles for dessert–buy some fresh or frozen cream puffs or éclairs.)

Keller