Take a quick perusal of this website over the past year-ish and you might think that I’ve subsisted entirely on baked goods. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong — I haven’t been cooking much during quarantine, largely because for large stretches of it, I’ve been lucky enough to be at home with my parents.
The one dish I’ve made more than a few times in the past 12 months? Roast chicken. To me it is an ideal Sunday night dinner: easy, comforting–the kind of meal that can fortify a person for a busy week ahead. The leftovers are ideal for adding to weekday lunches, whether in salad, grain bowl, or even sandwich form.
Most of the time, I stick with my go-to recipe, which yields potato chip-crisp skin and juicy, flavorful meat with minimal fuss. But every now and then, especially when you’re stuck at home for yet another quarantined weekend, a little bit of fuss seems appealing.
Enter this feta-brined roast chicken. Melissa Clark uses tangy feta to brine a whole chicken overnight, and then rubs the chicken with a lemon zest-and-oregano spice blend and roasts the chicken at a high heat until it’s crisp.
She (and I) highly recommend you seek out the fresh feta that comes as blocks packed in water — its flavor is fresher than the pre-packed crumbles. While she didn’t use that feta water for her brine, I did (and took the salt down a bit elsewhere in the recipe) to really bump up that salty, savory flavor. I used a Bulgarian sheep’s milk feta, which is extra creamy and rich, and was especially lovely in the post-roast pan sauce.
The results were everything I want from a roast chicken: bright, juicy meat with skin that crackles as you bite into it. I especially loved the pan sauce, luxed up with more crumbled feta and a good squeeze of lemon. Serving the chicken atop a bed of pan sauce-dressed greens ultimately leads to a lighter roast chicken dinner, one that’s ready for spring. 🌿
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PinIngredients
- 4 ounces fresh feta cheese, crumbled + feta brine
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- one 4-pound whole chicken
- 1–1/2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 lemons
- 1/4 + 2 tablespoons cup olive oil, divided
- 1 large bunch baby spinach or other sturdy salad greens, to serve
Instructions
- The night before cooking, blend 2 ounces of the feta, the feta brine, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3 cups water until smooth. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl large enough to submerge the chicken completely, and cover with the brine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours if you’re prepping the day of cooking).
- Four hours before cooking, remove the chicken from brine and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet. Pat dry completely (including the insides). Transfer the chicken, uncovered, back to the fridge so that it dries out a bit (this will ensure crispy skin).
- One hour before cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature. Combine the remaining teaspoon of salt with the black pepper, oregano, zest of both lemons (roughly two tablespoons), and two tablespoons of olive oil. Generously rub the mixture all over the chicken, then halve the lemons and place three halves in the chicken’s cavity. Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen twine if desired.
- Just before cooking, preheat the oven to 450F. In a 12-inch cast-iron or otherwise heavy bottomed ovenproof skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil until just smoking. Turn the heat off, then place the chicken in the skillet, breast-side up. Transfer the pan to the oven.
- Roast at 450F for 20 minutes, then decrease the heat to 400F and roast for an additional 40-50 minutes. The chicken is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165F and the juices run clear. Remove the skillet from the oven and transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- While the chicken is resting, scatter the baby spinach on a serving platter. Crumble the remaining 2 ounces of feta into the skillet and stir with the pan juices. Drizzle this pan sauce over the greens, then squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half and top with freshly cracked black pepper. Carve the chicken and serve over the dressed greens.
Notes
Adapted slightly from Melissa Clark
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