Roasted chicken and ramps. I don’t care if ramps are the new arugula, or the old Brussels sprouts, or whatever. They’re yet another welcome and delicious sign of spring, even if it is 85 degrees and feels a whole lot more like summer here in NYC.

After a little over a year of beer cooler sous vide, I finally graduated to the Sous Vide Supreme when it became available at Costco (with Costco’s return policy and pricing the decision was pretty easy!). There are enough articles about sous vide cooking and these machines that I don’t need to bother going into that here. After a few weeks of use, there are a lot of things I like about having a dedicated sous vide setup, but here are two that I hadn’t thought much about before. First, the ability to take food straight from the freezer and into a water bath is an amazing convenience. I’m horrible at remembering to defrost all of the great things in my freezer. Second, it’s ridiculously hot in NYC right now, and I’m loving that I can cook almost anything I want without adding any heat to my apartment.

In this picture are a couple of chicken breasts happily cooking at 148 degrees. One for me with salt, pepper, and thyme, and another for the cat (don’t judge) with no seasoning. I’m convinced that it’s impossible to cook a chicken breast using any other method as well as you can with sous vide.

Just a roasted chicken. I roast chickens all the time… They are delicious and fun to cook and eat. You can make chicken salad with the leftovers, stock from the bones, and so on. Plus, it always bothered me that a whole chicken is often cheaper than a pack of two small boneless breasts. Anyway, I’m always trying different recipes and experimenting with temperatures, rubs, fillings for the cavity, beer cans, etc. But it’s easy to forget that sometimes less is more and a roasted chicken can be the best example of that. Specifically, Thomas Keller’s roasted chicken recipe which (if you don’t count optional brine or pan sauce) has all of four ingredients: a chicken, salt, pepper, and thyme.

There is a catch however: a chef like Keller only ever use the best ingredients so what works for him doesn’t always work for the rest of us. Plus, the simpler the dish, the more the ingredients stand out. In this recipe the size and quality of the chicken make all the difference in the world. Keller calls for a “2- to 3-pound farm raised chicken.” He should add, “without which, do not continue.” If you use a five pound supermarket bird, the breast will be tough and not that flavorful. This is the time to seek out a better quality (and smaller) chicken from the Greenmarket or a good butcher. If you do, you will be rewarded with one of the simplest yet most delicious meals you can make at home.

Roasted free range chicken with root vegetables. Roasting a good chicken is so easy and the end result is almost always delicious if you follow a few basic steps.

1) Brine. Go for twelve hours in a combination of water, salt, sugar, acid, and herbs. Increase the ratio of every else to water and go for one hour if you have less time. For this bird, I used apple cider vinegar, honey, black peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. This is a great place for experimentation and I rarely use the same brine twice unless I need guaranteed results.

2) Air dry the bird following brining if you have time. 12-24 hours is best, but even one hour is better than none. This is necessary for really crispy skin. Somewhere between the last one and two hours depending on size should be out of the fridge to bring the bird to room temp.

3) Stuff the bird with something tasty that will add moisture. Lemons, garlic, and an herb like rosemary or thyme are a great combo.

4) Cook the bird over root vegetables, onions, garlic, whatever. These add flavor to the bird, soak up the drippings, and if you crisp them while the bird rests make the perfect side.

5) Take the bird out early and let it come to the desired temperature while it rests. Then, carve it properly… if you don’t know how—learn, it’s really easy and it actually makes the chicken taste better.

Roasted chicken. Lately I’ve been on a bird roasting kick. I’ll start posting more pictures. Brined for 12 hours, roasted with root vegetables at a combination of temperatures. I put dabs of butter all over this one before roasting, which led to less even browning of the skin but a lot of flavor.