Classic Roast Chicken With Pan Sauce Recipes

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the potatoes, carrots, parsnip and shallot in a roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and swirl to coat.
• If there are giblets in the chicken, discard them. Place the lemon slices, garlic, thyme and a drizzle of olive oil inside the cavity. Tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Rub the skin all over with 3 tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breast-side up on top of the vegetables and pour 1 cup of the chicken broth into the roasting pan.
• Place the chicken in the center rack of the oven and bake until the skin is golden brown and the juices run clear when pierced, 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. At around 40 minutes of cooking, add another cup of chicken stock to the roasting pan to keep the vegetables from burning. A meat thermometer should read 165 degrees F when inserted between the leg and the breast. Remove the vegetables from the pan to a platter and transfer the chicken to a cutting board and tent with foil to rest at about 20 minutes before carving.
• Place the roasting pan over medium-high heat and add the wine and cook for about a minute, stirring with an angled wooden spoon to release the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once it reaches a simmer, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the flour and whisk to combine, cooking for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining 2 cups chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, and bring to a boil. Then simmer until the pan sauce has thickened slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and the juice from the lemon half. Carefully strain the sauce into a serving bowl.
• Carve the chicken, transfer to the platter with the vegetables and garnish with the thyme leaves and the remaining lemon half, cut into wedges. Serve with the pan sauce.

PAN SAUCE FOR ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• After preparing Roast Chicken, remove rack from roasting pan, leaving necks in pan; place pan on stove (it may need to be set across two burners) over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until necks and chicken bits remaining in pan are deep brown, 3 to 4 minutes; spoon off and discard all but 1/4 cup of the fat.
• Add 1 cup dry white wine, and boil until reduced by half, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, 4 to 6 minutes. Carefully pour contents of pan through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan; add any juices that have accumulated on platter from resting chickens.
• Remove pan from heat; add 1 tablespoon cold butter, and swirl pan just until butter has melted and sauce has thickened. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper; serve with roast chickens. (If necessary, reheat sauce but do not boil.)

CLASSIC ROAST CHICKEN WITH PAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Truss chicken: Preheat oven to 450 F, preferably convection. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. (Optional: stuff cavity with a whole lemon to prop up the breast.) Cut about 3 feet of twine, lay it flat on a clean surface, and position chicken breast side up on the middle of the twine. Tie the legs together with a single knot. Flip the chicken over, bring twine down the length of the bird, wrap it under the wings, tighten, and tie off the twine behind the neck; trim excess twine. (The goal of trussing is to make the chicken as compact as possible, preventing hot air from circulating in the cavity and drying out the breasts.)
• Season chicken: Lift the chicken with one hand and generously sprinkle salt over it with the other, rotating the chicken to make sure it's evenly coated; place the salted chicken in a cast-iron skillet. Roast until the juices run clear, about 1 hour. (Note: As the chicken roasts at a high temperature, the fat will naturally smoke. Cleaning your oven before roasting will minimize the smoke.)
• Pan sauce: Transfer chicken to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and let it rest. Meanwhile, put skillet with pan drippings on the stove over medium heat. Peel and thinly slice onion. Use a vegetable peeler to shave off ribbons of carrot until you reach the core; discard the core. Place onions and carrot shavings in the skillet; stir with the wooden spatula, scraping up the browned chicken drippings (or "fond") on the bottom of the skillet. Deglaze the skillet with wine, stir, and allow the liquid to reduce completely, about 3-5 minutes. When it has reduced, add 1 cup of water, stir, and let the liquid reduce again until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Meanwhile, carve the chicken.
• Carve chicken: Cut away the twine and discard. Separate the leg and thigh from the breast by using the knife to pop open the leg joint, making it easier to sever; separate the leg and thigh into two pieces if you wish. Cut off the wings and neck. (Optional: place neck into the skillet while the sauce is reducing for extra flavor.) Run the blade along the breastbone to remove the breasts, leaving skin intact. If you wish, cut the breasts into thick slices. Transfer to a serving platter.
• Optional: Use the carcass to make chicken stock. Place it in an oven-safe pot along with vegetables (such as carrot, celery, and/or onion) and add enough water to cover. Put the pot in a 200 F oven for 6 hours or overnight. Strain the stock and store in a lidded container in the refrigerator or freezer.Once pan sauce has thickened and looks caramel-brown, turn off the heat. Leaving the vegetables in the skillet, spoon the sauce over the chicken; serve immediately.