Roast Chicken

Preparation

1. Step 1

   A day or two ahead of cooking, if possible, remove the neck and giblets from the chicken. If there are any lumps of fat just inside the cavity, pull them out and discard. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and fresh-ground pepper. Put a few sprigs of thyme or other herbs in the cavity, and truss, or tie, the legs together (see page 105 for tying instructions). Tuck the wing tips up and under the back of the neck. Cover loosely and refrigerate.

   Step 2

   Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking and preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken in a lightly oiled roasting pan or earthenware dish, breast side up. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the chicken over, and roast breast side down, for another 20 minutes. Turn the chicken over again, and roast breast side up, for 20 minutes more. To test for doneness, pierce the leg joint with the tip of a knife; the juice should run clear, not pink. Remove the chicken to a platter to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

   Step 3

   While the chicken is resting, prepare the pan juices. Tilt the pan to one corner and skim off much of the clear fat from the top. Put the pan on the stovetop, add a little chicken stock or water, and scrape loose all the browned bits on the bottom. When carving the chicken, collect all the juice released from the bird and add to the pan juice. Heat the juices and pour over the chicken just before serving, or pass in a bowl at the table.

2. Notes

   Step 4

   The remains of roast chicken, and the flesh left on the carcass after carving, are good shredded and added to salads or mixed with an herb mayonnaise for chicken salad sandwiches, or added to a broth and vegetable soup (see page 48).

3. Step 5

   Save the carcass of roast chicken for making stock. If the chicken has been roasted with fresh herbs in the cavity, remove them before adding the chicken to the stockpot.

4. Carving Chicken

   Step 6

   Let the roasted chicken rest for 10 minutes or so after it is cooked. To carve the chicken, fi rst cut the string and remove it. Cut off the legs: With the chicken on its back, use your fi ngers to push apart the leg and the breast and, with the knife, cut through the skin between the leg and the breast, following the seam down to the joint. Cut through the joint to release the ball of the leg bone from the socket and cut through the remaining attached skin. Repeat with the other leg.

5. Step 7

   Remove the breasts: Locate the breastbone at the center of the breast and cut straight down each side of it to the rib bones. With the wishbone removed, this is an easy, clean cut. If the wishbone has not been removed, use the tip of the knife and follow the wishbone down to the wing joint to separate the fl esh from the bone. Use the knife to follow the rib bones down to the shoulder joint as you lift the breast away from the carcass, then cut through the wing joint, which will release very easily. If you like, cut the quarters into smaller pieces, separating legs and thighs, and cutting the breasts diagonally in half, or in slices.