Roasted Chicken So Simple? So Easy?

    

Published in the October 2008 issue of Pink magazine

Roasted chicken is one of the easiest things to make as long as you have a chicken, oven and pan…Supposedly, allegedly. Have you ever looked at the different variations of roasting a chicken? Which one is the best and easiest?

Some recipes call for water, stock or wine in the pan with the bird. Some suggest vegetables and potatoes nestled amongst the poultry. Stuff the cavity with celery, onions, and lemons? To truss or not to truss seems to be the big question. Cook the bird upside down. Cook it on its side. Cut it up tie it together, then cut the string before serving…is that a perfect roasted chicken? Salt and pepper the skin. Oh, shove a can of beer up the birds’ backside (which is good!). Stand it on end, cover it. Uncover it. Wrap it in cheesecloth and bacon. Parboil the chick and then brown it in the oven (don’t like that one). I could go on.

So surrounded by my cookbooks I started the mission; finding the best way to roast a chicken. I wanted it simple, yet tasty, traditional but with a slight variation. An easy meal for the family. I wanted crispy skin and a moist interior, slightly salty and golden brown, with juices from the bottom of the pan that would produce a rich colored gravy. That’s all I wanted. Where’d that recipe go? I decided to ask an expert; my favorite chef Bob Waggoner.

Bob referred me to page 168 in his cookbook. And, of course, I loved his recipe but it was too involved for this mission (sorry Bob!). I’ll use it next time I have a dinner party. The idea of spreading a bacon and onion puree in between the meat and skin made my mouth water.   It would make for a nice dressed up bird!

Back to my mission…one by one I closed the splayed cookbooks on my kitchen table. I was left with “Bouchon,” “How to cook the perfect…by Marcus Wareing” and “Bon Appetite’s – Keep it Simple.”

  I needed to keep closing the books. Bouchon, gone…didn’t like the idea of serving the chicken slathered with butter. I thought the French influenced methods were the best though.

It was down to Wareing’s recipe (from Guy Savoy in Paris) and Keep It Simple. I ended up combining those recipes and found my perfect roasted chicken.

The other major key after finding the perfect recipe is finding the perfect bird. Free range, minimally processed, organic. I don’t cheap out on the chicken. No run of the mill bulk bought supermarket birds that can be tough, stringy and tasteless (from my experience). Now I spoil myself and other hungry mouths by driving to Scotts Meats on the May River Road in Bluffton.   He’s a proper butcher and that’s where I poultry up! Scotts carries Ashley Farms chickens. They’re tender, moist and have a great flavor…they taste like chicken and lucky all of you who live in Bluffton! 

Perfect Roasted Chicken with Gravy

Serves 2 (maybe 4)

1 3-½ lb free range or organic chicken

1 large onion cut in quarters

1lb of baby cut carrots

1 lemon cut in half

1 bunch of fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

For the Gravy

1-½ cups of chicken stock (I like Kitchen Basics or my own)

½ cup white wine

¼ cup of flour

¼ cup of butter

Preheat oven to 425 ° F.   Rinse chicken inside and out, pat dry (standard rules) Season the cavity with salt and pepper, fill with the thyme and cut lemon, squeezing juice inside.   Roast in a pan just big enough to hold the bird. Toss the onions and carrots in a little olive oil and arrange around the chicken. Rub olive oil over the skin, season vegetables and chicken generously with salt and pepper. Roast until the juices run clear when pierced at the thickest part of the thigh.   About 1 ½- ¾ hours. Remove from oven, using a slotted spoon transfer carrots and onions to a bowl. Reserve pan juices. Tent the chicken with foil while you make the gravy.

Degrease pan juices. Over low heat cook flour in a medium saucepan until it begins to turn caramel color. Season with salt and pepper; add butter and stir, cooking for an additional minute or so. Add the white wine to your cooking roux, whisk until smooth, cook for a few minutes more. Slowly add the reserved juices and stock, whisking as you go creating a smooth sauce. Simmer until it thickens and the color deepens to a rich caramel.

Now all you have to do is cut the chicken in quarters and serve it with the vegetables and gravy.  

 It's All Delicious notes: You can begin the gravy process while the chicken is in the oven starting with the wine, chicken stock and adding the pan juices later.

Comments

[Julie]

Everyone should be able to make a roast chicken. It's dead simple and makes you feel like a domestic goddess!

[sally]

I'm surprised we all don't have feathers in this house!