Country Herb Roast Chicken

In the Pantry Challenge video series, Lauren Braun Costello, a chef, author and food stylist, shows busy moms how to make wholesome meals using ingredients they already have in their pantries, solving their unique cooking challenges.

In this video, Lauren helps Peggy S., a mother of four and registered nurse, make use of a store-bought "country herbs" spice blend. Lauren points out that Peggy's blend, which contains dried parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme, is similar to the French herbes de Provence mixture (available in most American grocery stores with other dried spices).

To make a herb paste to season the bird and keep it moist, Lauren combines a spoonful of the dried herb mixture, olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. After getting rid of the chicken's largest fat pads, Lauren rubs some of the mixture under the chicken skin. She removes and discards the first joint of each wing tip, and then shows Peggy how to truss the chicken, which will result in tender, moist meat but a crispy, golden skin. She rubs some of the herbs and oil mixture over the outside of the entire bird and sets the chicken on top of the wing tips' second joints in the roasting pan.

After cleaning her knife and cutting board, Lauren cuts Idaho potatoes into wedges. To give them a nice crispy outside and tender center, Lauren lays the potatoes in a single layer in the roasting pan surrounding the chicken, and drizzles them with the remainder of the herb mixture. Two turns in the oven (first at 450 F to crisp the skin, then at 350 F to finish cooking), and this whole chicken is ready to be carved and served.

Get the Recipe for Country Herb Roast Chicken.