This Roast Chicken Recipe Took Chef Jonathan Waxman 50 Years to Perfect — Most-Ordered

Quick Overview

Chef Jonathan Waxman demonstrates how to prepare his signature roast chicken with salsa verde, a dish that took him 45 to 50 years to perfect, utilizing a high-heat wood-fired oven from his restaurant Barbuto to achieve crispy skin and moist meat.

Key Points: The roast chicken recipe, which Waxman considers his most popular dish, took 45 to 50 years to perfect. The chicken is spatchcocked (butterflied) by cutting through the breast bone (00:47) to ensure even cooking and crispy skin. Cooking is done in a high-heat wood-fired oven (00:10, 02:26) for about 6 minutes on one side, followed by flipping and basting with rendered fat to help the skin crisp. Salsa verde preparation involves crushing garlic, capers, anchovy, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, and tarragon in a mortar and pestle (04:33), followed by emulsifying with olive oil and lemon zest. Waxman emphasizes seasoning the chicken generously with salt, noting that many people under-salt (01:55). The kale salad, which often sells as many portions as the chicken, is made by massaging the Dinosaur kale with lemon juice and dressing, then topping with breadcrumbs and cheese (06:18, 08:04). The final chicken is plated with pan juices and topped generously with the freshly made salsa verde (08:53).

Context: Chef-Owner Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto restaurant in the West Village provides a tutorial on preparing his highly popular roast chicken dish, served with salsa verde and kale salad. Waxman shares that the dish has been refined over nearly five decades, evolving from a dish he adapted from another chef into his signature creation, emphasizing techniques that ensure maximum flavor and texture, such as using high heat and specific sauce preparations.

Detailed Analysis

Chef Jonathan Waxman walks through the preparation of his signature roast chicken with salsa verde, a dish he refined over 45 to 50 years. The process begins with butchering the chicken by spatchcocking it (00:47) by cutting through the breast plate and articulating the legs out of the joint, a technique he learned early in his career. He seasons the chicken generously with salt and pepper, emphasizing that under-salting is a common mistake (01:55). The chicken is then cooked skin-side down on a metal tray in a very hot wood-fired oven (02:26), near the fire source, for about six minutes to render the fat and crisp the skin (02:55). He then flips the chicken, bastes it with the rendered fat, and cooks for another 8 to 10 minutes until done (03:45). While the chicken rests, Waxman prepares the salsa verde using a mortar and pestle (04:33). The salsa verde base includes garlic (which he crushes by exposing the germ to prevent indigestion), capers, anchovy, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, and tarragon, emulsified with olive oil and lemon zest (04:48-06:16). He also prepares a kale salad, using Dinosaur kale, which he massages with dressing ingredients (07:34). The final assembly involves cutting the rested chicken and spooning the salsa verde over the pieces (08:53), noting that the dish’s success lies in its simplicity and not masking the flavor of the perfectly cooked chicken.