I stand by what I said in this week's episode: roast chicken is a method, rather than a recipe. Of course, typing up that method for you guys kind of makes it a recipe anyway, but I'm going to stick to my semantic guns on this: Here's a PDF of this week's method for a simple roast chicken with mustard jus.

No matter what you call it, this is a pretty fantastic dish. To quote my dad, who unapologetically hates chicken, "the episode almost made me want to eat chicken." (Go ahead and inject a bit of disgust and horror into that for accuracy.)

What can I say? This dish does have the power to convert. Think you don't like chicken? Try this roast. Never tried cooking a whole chicken before because you were afraid it'd be raw inside? Make this. Truss the drumsticks over the cavity to protect the breasts from drying out and trust the juices: lightly brown to clear juices mean your chicken's good to go; red or pinkish juices means it needs a little more time. Let the chicken rest for at least 15 minutes, oysters and pope's nose and all, for the meat to reabsorb its juices, and you're ready to eat.

If you're not a fan of mustard (shame on you), you can make a perfectly decent gravy with liquid - white wine, chicken broth, beer, water - some garlic sliced down thin, and a squeeze of lemon. But, really, I urge you to try the mustard. I'm normally not a gravy person, and this isn't a gravy in that thick, floury, sense. This is a light, earthy jus with a slight bite to it. Who says a simple roast chicken has to be bland?