Keller’s Skillet Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Ingredients

• One 4 to 4 1/2 pound chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 3 medium-sized rutabagas, ends cut and discarded, rutabagas peeled, and any outer tough layer discarded, then rutabagas cut into 1/4-inch wedges
• 2 medium-sized turnips, prepared the same way as the rutabagas
• 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch segments
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled, roots cut off but core kept intact, other end cut off and discarded, the onion then cut into quarters
• 8 small red-skinned new potatoes
• About 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature, spreadable

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 475 degrees F. Remove the wishbone from the chicken, if you like: with a paring knife, loosen it from the neck and breast area, using your fingertips to find the bone as needed. It takes a little patience, but taking it out now makes carving simpler later; if you would rather skip it, that is perfectly fine.
2. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Put three of the garlic cloves and 5 sprigs of the thyme inside the cavity, then use your hands to spread the garlic and thyme around inside.
3. Truss the bird. Cut a 3-foot length of cotton kitchen string, then set the chicken breast side up with the legs facing you. Fold the wing tips underneath. Slide the string beneath the neck end, bring both ends up over the breast and toward you, snugging the breast into a plumper shape.
4. Cross the string below the breast, just above the cavity and between the legs. Loop each end around the nearest leg end, then pull tight and tie so the legs are held together.
5. Put the vegetables, onions, garlic, and remaining thyme sprig in a bowl. Pour in 1/4 cup of olive oil and toss with your hands until everything is coated. Season well with salt and pepper.
6. Rub the chicken with oil, then season it thoroughly with salt and pepper.
7. Spread the root vegetables in a large cast iron pan to make a base for the chicken, or use a regular roasting pan if that is what you have. The potatoes can also be held back here and tucked around the chicken instead. Set the chicken on top of the vegetables, then spread the butter over the top of the chicken breasts.
8. Move the pan to the oven and roast the chicken for 25 minutes at 475 degrees F. Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and continue roasting for an additional 45 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F and the juices are clear.
9. Lift the chicken onto a cutting board, tent it with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 20 minutes before carving. To keep the vegetables warm, leave them in the turned-off oven while the chicken rests. Before serving, stir the vegetables so they are coated with the pan juices.
10. Carve the chicken into serving pieces. Arrange the vegetables on a serving platter and place the chicken pieces over them.