Fauxtisserie Chicken & Potatoes

Achieve a perfect rotisserie-style chicken by cooking it low and slow in the oven

We've done a lot of traveling in the last month and it seems like forever since I spent a day in our kitchen. Our pantry and fridge were pretty bare after returning from the Bahamas, so I picked up a few essentials and made this roasted "fauxtisserie" chicken and potatoes (based off this recipe in Bon Appetit). We ate some of it for dinner one night, and I had plenty of leftovers to transform into quick lunches and weeknight meals the rest of the week. Plus, it made the whole house smell delicious and lived in again. Unlike normal roast chickens, this one bakes in the oven for up to three hours at a low temperature. The chicken gets incredibly tender and stays surprisingly moist and the potatoes get basted in all the cooking juices to take on a deep flavor. It reminded us of one of our best meals in Paris during our honeymoon: the rotisserie chicken and potatoes we ate off the street on Rue Mouffetard.


Related Recipes:
- Simple Roasted Chicken
- Roasted Chicken & Grapes
- Braised Chicken & Mushrooms


Fauxtisserie Chicken & Roasted Pee Wee Potatoes:

• Preheat the oven to 300F.
• Pat a 4-4 1/2 lb. whole chicken dry with paper towels, then stuff the inside with half a head of garlic and a halved lemon* and season with salt and pepper.
• Tie the chicken's legs together with butchers twine.
• Meanwhile, combine the zest of 1 lemon, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 3 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, and 3 tbsp. olive oil in a small bowl.
• Rub the seasoning all over the chicken, then place on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Toss 1 lb. of pee wee potatoes** with 2-3 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt, then scatter around the chicken on the baking sheet.
• Roast the chicken in the oven for 2 1/2 -3 hours, turning the potatoes with a spatula and basting the chicken every hour or so.
• Let the chicken rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then carve and enjoy.

Serves four

*Zest the lemon for the rub before stuffing it in the bird.
**If you can't find pee wee potatoes, just cut larger waxy potatoes (such as Yukon Golds) into bite-size chunks.