I really can't believe I haven't written about the perfect roast chicken yet - it's the Mister and I's go-to Sunday Night Dinner. In fact, I think it was the first SND that I made for us. I really can't think of anything better than a roast chicken - amazing, tender, and juicy. It's a little fussy, but when it comes out right OH MAN is it tasty. I'd love to hear your versions of this classic dish, but for now here's what I think you should do. My version is inspired by the great Ina Garten, and I will NOT tell you what Robb calls her because it's super mean and I love her. So there.
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Start with a 4 - 5 pound whole chicken - try to go for organic/free range if you can. It makes quite the difference in flavor, and it's way better for you. Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have great options. Remove the giblet package (you can freeze this and use later if you make your own chicken stock) and then give that chicken a rinse inside and out. Be sure to pat dry thoroughly with paper towels and set aside.
Slice up two large onions - white, yellow, or red are all fine - or a mix would be nice. Scatter those in the bottom of your roasting pan with 5 carrots that you've peeled and chopped into pretty diagonally sliced chunks. Don't make them too small or they'll cook too quickly, but you want them to be bite sized. Another don't - don't salt and pepper your veggies at this point, when you S/P the chicken, plenty of that seasoning will fall off into your onions and carrots.
Now back to your chicken - salt and pepper the cavity, then add one half of a large orange, a big ol' handful of fresh thyme, a halved lemon, a halved clementine (you can skip this citrus if you don't have, just add another halved lemon if you'd like), a bulb of garlic halved crosswise, and finish with the other half of your orange, if you can fit. You want the skin of the orange to be showing through the top of the cavity - it will hold everything in if you do this. Tie the legs of the chicken together firmly with some butcher's twine (any butcher will give you a length of this if you bat your eyes, but it's also readily available at kitchen supply stores). Soften two tablespoons of butter - don't melt it completely, just soften it. Time to give that chicken a butter massage! Set the chicken in the rack of the roasting pan breast side up over your veggies and rub that butter all over the skin. Liberally salt and pepper (AFTER you've buttered, it sticks that way - also some of the seasoning will fall down on your veggies) and you'll get a delicious salty crust when you roast.
Pour 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock over the veggies, and then slide the roasting pan into the oven - make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven. Roast the chicken and the vegetables for ninety minutes. Make sure that there is always some liquid covering the onions and carrots - they will burn otherwise. Add more wine or chicken stock accordingly. When there is about thirty minutes left, take the chicken out of the oven and quickly turn it over so that the underside can brown as well. Turn the chicken back breast side up for the last ten or so minutes of cooking. You want your guy to be 160 degrees - I really recommend a digital thermometer that has an oven safe cord, they're amazing. Mine lets off a little alarm when the desired temperature has been reached. Once your chicken reaches 160 degrees, take it out the oven and transfer it to a wooden cutting board (preferably one with a groove running around the border of the board to catch the delicious juices). Tent that guy with some aluminum foil and let it rest at least twenty minutes before you carve - you'll scald your fingers if you don't wait.
Remove the onions and carrots from the roasting pan with a slotted spoon and cover with foil to keep warm for later when you're ready to eat. Strain the pan drippings into a saucepan and spoon off any fat that has risen to the top (or you can use a handy dandy fat separator - it's the greatest invention ever and available at Crate and Barrel). Add any juice that has collected around the chicken on the cutting board and a splash or two more of the white wine you used before as well as bit more chicken stock. Just eyeball it - you want to have a cup and a half or so of liquid in the sauce pan. As you're simmering that, whisk three tablespoons of cornstarch with a quarter cup of chicken stock in a separate bowl, then whisk that into your saucepan. The gravy should start to thicken right away. Keep whisking, and if it's too thick, add some more chicken stock - too thin, mix a little more cornstarch with some chicken stock and add to the gravy. Taste for seasoning and you should have some spectacular gravy!
You can serve this amazing chicken with the onion, carrots, kick-ass gravy, and some mashed taters or crusty bread. When I made this the other night, I served it with the artichoke gratin that I've featured in an earlier post. Check it out, it makes a really nice accompaniment.
And there you have it! Fairly simple - once you've gotten the chicken in the oven you've got plenty of time to relax with a glass of wine and some port salut.
XO,
D
0 comments:
Post a Comment