Roast Chicken Parts with Olive Oil or Butter

The simplest chicken recipe there is and perhaps the easiest as well. Add the herb here if you like or see the flavoring ideas that follow. This is the kind of dish you’ll never get tired of, because you can change the flavoring every time you make it.

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter

1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of parts

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup any chopped mild green herb—like parsley, dill, or basil—or a combination of herbs (optional)

• Heat the oven to 450 F. Put the oil or butter in a roasting pan and put it in the oven for a couple of minutes, until the oil is hot or the butter melts. Add the chicken and turn it a couple of times in the fat, leaving it skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and return the pan to the oven.
• After the chicken has cooked for 15 minutes, sprinkle on one-quarter of the herb, if you’re using any, and turn the pieces. Sprinkle on another quarter of the herb and roast for another 10 minutes.
• Turn the chicken over (now skin side up again), add another quarter of the herb, and cook until the chicken is done (you’ll see clear juices if you make a small cut in the meat near the bone), another 5 to 15 minutes at most. Garnish with the remaining herb and skim excess fat from the pan juices if necessary; serve, with some of the juices spooned over it.
  Roast Chicken Parts with Black Beans.
  • First, soak 2 tablespoons fermented black beans in water, sherry, or wine to cover. In place of the butter or olive oil, use peanut oil or a neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn. Mix together 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 2 minced scallions, 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon sugar or honey. Drain the black beans and add them to this mixture; thin it to a paste, if necessary, with a little more soy sauce. In Step 1, spread a little of this mixture all over the raw chicken and put the chicken in the roasting pan; return the pan to the oven. Proceed with Steps 2 and 3, using the soy-based mixture for basting in place of the herb mixture.
• MAKES: 4 to 6 servings
• TIME: 40 minutes