Roasted Bone-in Chicken Breast

When I hear the words "baked chicken breast," I can't say that I'm terribly excited by the sound of it. I can think only of dry, relatively flavorless meat, which is probably destined to be mixed with plenty of mayonnaise in a chicken salad later. The expertise required to produce juicy, tender, and flavorful meat—and the fear of undercooking chicken—has led to so many overcooked chicken breasts that cooking them whole seems impossible.

But, like any cut of meat, when you choose something bone-in and skin-on, the game changes. The bone helps even the distribution of heat, while the skin protects the exterior, which can dry out before the inside is cooked (and crisp skin is delicious, too). With this technique, I found myself cutting into a juicy chicken breast with crisp skin in under an hour.

The secret is the high temperature (which is why I decided to call it "roasted" instead of "baked") and cooking it on a wire rack, which speeds the cooking of the meat and crisping of the skin, so that the interior reaches temperature as quickly as possible. Then, you simply slice it off the bone and serve it fanned out on the plate.