Earl Cooks Salt Roasted Chicken & Burns Golden Beets

In keeping with my new resolve to follow more recipes from others to learn from them, rather than "wing" it, I found a recipe for a salt roasted whole chicken from Chef John, Salt-Roasted Chicken – Tastes Like Chicken .
I should point out that I have never roasted a whole chicken. Whole turkeys, yes. This is a different animal - for me.

There are only 2 ingredients for the chicken -  and one was the chicken. I liked that. The other ingredient is kosher salt. This is perfect. but I made a couple of mistakes, which I will tell you about. Let's begin.
—I found whole roast chickens ON SALE for just 77¢/pound! The recipe called for a 3½ to 4-pound bird which was what I brought home. The chef used a nice big skillet, which was stainless steel and oven proof. I didn't have an oven-proof skillet that was big enough...except my 12" cast iron, which turned out to be the perfect size! (One note here: It is nearly impossible to find chicken that has not been "enhanced" with a solution of 10-15%. This is NOT an enhancement, it allows them to sell you a smaller product than you want to pay for or for a price that is deceptively lowered. Enough preaching!)

—I cleaned my bird, making certain I didn't contaminate any wooden surfaces, after removing the giblets. Then I coated it on ALL sides, including the cavity, with kosher salt and placed it in the pan which was coated with oil and a thin layer of salt. I discovered after cooking that I had used too much salt because I didn't follow the recipe and tried my own measuring. (DON'T DO THIS. I love salt, as does my wife, but too much is, well, TOO MUCH!) Now place your bird into a preheated 450℉ oven. Cook it for 50-60 minutes or until the thickest part of the thigh registers 165℉. When you remove it from the oven, it should look something like mine (pictured at the left). Remove your chicken to a platter and cover it with foil while you prepare the lemon/thyme sauce. This became the star of my dish, and I was surprised. I had never tried to make a pan sauce but it was well worth it.

FOR THE SAUCE
—Remove all but about 10% of the fat in the pan and place the pan on a burner set to medium-high. Add thyme leaves to the pan. Heat until wilted.
—Add the juice of 1 lemon to the pan drippings along with ⅓ cup of chicken stock. I found that this was great for scraping up the tasty brown bits (or fond) from the bottom of the pan. Reduce, if necessary, and turn the pan to low. Add 2 tablespoons COLD butter, cut into quarters and stir into the sauce. It will emulsify when stirred. It will be one of the best sauces ever! Spoon the sauce over the chicken and add fresh ground pepper and it will be great...if you didn't use too much salt!

For my portion, I chose the leg/thigh quarter This may have been the juiciest chicken I have ever cooked! I prepared a side dish of Golden Beets, which I OVERCOOKED by mistake making them inedible for my wife, so I ate them all. here is how it SHOULD be done:

If you have never tried Golden Beets, they are great! They have the flavor and texture of regular beets and can be cooked the same, without the deep red color permeating everything.
—Clean by soaking well. The soil seems to cling to them. Remove the greens (save them for another dish or stock). Peel them and slice each beet into 8 wedges.
—I like to place them into a pan and roast them with olive oil and salt and pepper. a splash of balsamic vinegar goes well too, and is a bit reminiscent of pickled beets. You can also roast them with other root veggies such as  parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, and carrots. They would be good mashed too and a healthy alternative to potatoes. They can be boiled or pickled, just like their red counterparts too.

My beets BURNED!

WHAT I DID and DIDN'T Do:
—I used all of the recipe ingredients with no substitutions.
—I roasted it per recipe instructions.
—I made the pan sauce as directed.
—I didn't have any cotton twine so I couldn't tie the legs together, but the bird I bought had been flattened a bit so it would have been difficult anyway.
—I used too much salt! It was the only place I deviated from the recipe, and I shouldn't have. It affected the flavor of the outer part of the bird but the meat was fine.
—I BURNED MY BEETS! I basically forgot about them while finishing the chicken. I know it's just the side dish but we were looking forward to it!
Conclusion:
I will make this again, but I will modify it to use parts rather than a whole bird since it is just two of us.