Whenever we have rehearsal for Dark Dazey shows / recording I (Simon) cook us dinner. It's part of why our music sounds good. We're well fed when we rehearse. Anyways, here's a recipe that I like to do when I'm feeling lazy but want to eat really yummy food.

Ingredients:

• Cast iron pan

• Meat thermometer

• 1 whole chicken

• Salt

• Pepper

• Garlic

• Paprika / Aleppo Pepper

• Potatoes

• Arugula

• Olive Oil

• Lemon

• Parm

Instructions:

Preface: for this recipe don't put olive oil or butter or any of those fats on your bird. I know some people are going be like baste your chicken blah use butter / evoo on your chicken blah blah etc. That is good and all and there's a time and place for extra work, but I swear to god this set it and forget it chicken is amazing. I learned this recipe from my dad (the best cook I know), he claims this is a Thomas Keller (French Laundry etc) preparation, idk if that's true, but it certainly hits.

Chicken:

• Preheat the oven to 420 (blaze it)

• Put your bird breast side up (see photo) in the cast iron pan. Make sure to remove the giblets from the cavity

• 3-4 things go on your chicken:

  • Salt - my dad always says make it rain with salt. This is the only salt on the whole chicken, you didn't brine it or marinade it, so don't be afraid.

  • Pepper - dust the whole surface

  • Garlic powder / granules - If you know me, you know I am extremely liberal with garlic

  • 4th (optional) is smoked paprika. This is more for color than flavor. I'll add it last on top of the other spices. If I have aleppo pepper I'd use that too here

• Put your chicken in the oven and forget about it

• Take it out when is 160-170 internal. You can go earlier, I find the breast isn't too overcooked if it's a little over 165. And I tend to like the thighs / dark meat a little over 165. I think it helps render more of the fat and you get more juice at the bottom of the pan. Look at that photo, when you cut into that chicken it just gushes juice into the bottom of the pan.

Potatoes:

• I prefer gold potatoes for something like this. If I get golds / reds then I don't take the skin off, if I'm using russets I do peel them

• Wash, peel (if you want, I usually don't) then cut your potatoes into bite sized cubes

• Toss the potatoes with the same spices as the chicken as well as a good glug of evoo, they should be well coated and smell yummy

• Put on a baking sheet and put in the oven alongside the chicken

• I like to flip them after like 10-15 minutes, then every 10-15 minutes after that. I'm honestly pretty aggressive when I flip them around, I like it when the skin comes off and they get a little craggly, that makes them crispier in the end

• Take them out when they are done, I like to leave them in to get extra crispy so I end up taking them out about the same time as the chicken. Just make sure they aren't undercooked.

Salad:

• Arugula, lemon juice, evoo, a little salt, a bunch of freshly grated parm, and fresh cracked pepper. Toss with the wet ingredients right before serving. I like to make this salad after I take the chicken / potatoes out and while the meat is resting. Arugula salad is a beautiful thing fresh, and a pretty mediocre thing if it sits around.

Service:

• Bring the chicken in the cast iron and put it on a trivet in the center of the table. Carve it in front of everyone to show off your super dank knife skillz. But really, it's important to keep it in the pan, not only because it looks cool, but because all of that salty juice is on the bottom of the pan and you want the chicken to soak up some of that yum yum. I also bring a spoon to put in there once I'm done carving the bird. Potatoes, chicken, salad. Perfect dinner. I like to put Kewpie mayo, sriracha, and/or bbq sauce on the table for people to eat with it. Try it w/ my Thai Crack Sauce if you're feeling really crazy.