ROAST CHICKEN
Instructions:
- I F YO U ’ R E MAKING A J U S
- 1 pound [450 g] chicken wings (optional)
- 1 small carrot, chopped (optional)
- 1 small onion, chopped (optional)
- 5 stalk celery, chopped (optional)
- 2 cups brown chicken broth or water
- PREHEAT the oven to 450°F [230°C/gas mark 8].
- IF you wish, truss the chickens and make a small aluminum foil covering for the breast.If you’re making a jus and are using the optional ingredients to give it more flavor, chop up the wings with a cleaver or heavy chef ’s knife and spread the pieces, with the chicken necks and vegetables, in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan or skillet just large enough to hold the chickens.
- Put the chickens, breast-side up, on top of the wings and vegetables in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, remove the aluminum foil, and bake for about 30 minutes more, until done.
- Transfer the chicken to a platter and let it rest for 15 minutes in a warm oven.
- I F YO U ’ R E MAKING A J U S
- When I roast a chicken, I rarely bother making a gravy but, instead, make a quick jus. There are two ways to do this. The first and most obvious is to simply pour off the juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the pan, skim off the fat, and serve.
- This is the best method for roast turkey, which releases a lot of flavorful liquid; but because roast chicken releases very little liquid, the roasting pan typically ends up covered with a layer of oily fat with a couple of tablespoons of juices floating under it—only enough jus for one or two people. If you’ve made a base—a fonçage—with vegetables or wings, much of the liquid will have been absorbed by the vegetables, so if you just strain it, you leave much of the flavor behind. Instead, deglaze the pan with a little broth or water to extract any flavor left in the fonçage.
- Before you deglaze, there’s another trick: Caramelizing the juices heightens their flavor and at the same time makes it very easy to get rid of the fat. To do this, take the chicken out of the pan and tilt it—I use the handle of a wooden spoon for this—so that any juices that have accumulated in the cavity drain into the roasting pan.
- Set the chicken aside and set the roasting pan on the stove on high heat. (If you’ve roasted in earthenware or porcelain, use a flame tamer.)
- Don’t stir the contents of the pan at this point, but let the juices caramelize. The liquids will evaporate completely and leave a brown glaze on the vegetables and on the bottom of the pan. The fat will separate and will look like oil. Move the pan around as needed if the juices start to get too dark or if there are parts where the liquid hasn’t yet caramelized and looks murky.
- When all the juices have caramelized—none of the liquid is murky, there’s just oily fat over a brown glaze—spoon the fat out of the roasting pan or tilt the roasting pan over a strainer to let the fat run out. Put any vegetables or trimmings that may have fallen out into the strainer back into the pan.
- Deglaze the pan with about 1 cup of chicken broth or water. Put the pan back on the stove over high heat and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to dissolve the caramelized juices into the deglazing liquid. Continue boiling until all the liquid evaporates and caramelizes a second time. Deglaze again with another cup of chicken broth or water.
- Turn down the heat to medium and simmer the jus for about 3 minutes, stirring and scraping all the while to get the caramelized juices to dissolve in the broth. Strain and serve.
- CARVING :
- Roasting a chicken is easy enough, but carving can intimidate the most stalwart cook. It’s worth learning, not just so you don’t make a mess of the chicken, but so you can carve at the table—an elegant and satisfying ritual.
- I usually carve with an ordinary fork and small chef ’s knife and save the fancy carving set for more formal occasions. I have a favorite wooden cutting board, one with a moat that catches the juices. In a pinch, set a regular cutting board in a sheet pan with rims—not very pretty, but it works.
- If you’re being really formal, put the chicken on a small heated platter to bring it out to the dining room and then, lifting with a fork held inside the cavity, move it onto the cutting board. On less exalted occasions, just bring it out on the cutting board. If you’re right-handed, position the chicken with the drumsticks pointing to your left.
- Hold the chicken still by pressing down against the inside of the cavity with a fork. Cut through the skin separating the leg and breast and cut all the way down to the bone at the base of the thigh.
- Push the thigh down on the platter and away from the chicken so that the small round bone at the base of the thigh, where it joins the rest of the chicken, snaps out.
- Slide the knife along the side of the chicken where the thigh connects to the back, separating the leg completely from the chicken.
- Leave as little meat as possible attached to the back. Cut sideways into the breast just above the wing and locate the joint where the wing connects to the body. The joint is set surprisingly deep in the chicken.
- Cut into the joint and detach the wing from the breast. Slide the carving knife along one side of the breastbone, as close to the bone as possible. Keep cutting, following along the side of the chicken and keeping the knife against the bone.
- Push the breast meat away from the bone with the back of the knife as you go. Detach the whole boneless breast. Turn the chicken around and repeat the whole process on the other side
- makes 8 main-course servings