Perfectly Roasted Chicken Recipes

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Let chicken and 1 tablespoon butter stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove and discard the plastic pop-up timer from chicken if there is one. Remove the giblets and excess fat from the chicken cavity. Rinse chicken inside and out under cold running water. Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips under the body. Sprinkle the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, and set aside.
• In the center of a heavy-duty roasting pan, place onion slices in two rows, touching. Place the palm of your hand on top of lemon and, pressing down, roll lemon back and forth several times. This softens the lemon and allows the juice to flow more freely. Pierce entire surface of lemon with a fork. Using the side of a large knife, gently press on garlic cloves to open slightly. Insert garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and lemon into cavity. Place chicken in pan, on onion slices. Cut about 18 inches of kitchen twine, bring chicken legs forward, cross them, and tie together.
• Spread the softened butter over entire surface of chicken, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, and roast until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and the juices run clear when pierced, about 1 1/2 hours. When chicken seems done, insert an instant-read thermometer into the breast, then the thigh. The breast temperature should read 180 degrees and the thigh 190 degrees.
• Remove chicken from oven, and transfer to a cutting board with a well. Let chicken stand 10 to 15 minutes so the juices settle. Meanwhile, pour the pan drippings into a shallow bowl or fat separator, and leave onions in the pan. Leave any brown baked-on bits in the bottom of the roasting pan, and remove and discard any blackened bits. Using a large spoon or fat separator, skim off and discard as much fat as possible. Pour the remaining drippings and the juices that have collected under the resting chicken back into the roasting pan. Place on the stove over medium-high heat to cook, about 1 minute. Add chicken stock, raise heat to high, and, using a wooden spoon, stir up and combine the brown bits with the stock until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Strain the gravy into a small bowl, pressing on onions to extract any liquid. Discard onions, and stir in the remaining tablespoon of cold butter until melted and incorporated. Untie the legs, and remove and discard garlic, thyme, and lemon. Carve, and serve gravy on the side.

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Rinse and pat chicken thoroughly dry with paper towels. Mix margarine, garlic salt, black pepper, thyme, parsley, and rosemary in a bowl and rub the outside of the chicken thoroughly with the margarine mixture. Place any remaining margarine mixture into the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken into a glass baking dish.
• Bake chicken in the preheated oven until browned and the juices run clear, about 2 hours. An instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, not touching bone, should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Season the inside and outside of the chicken with the salt and pepper. Put the lemon and garlic halves and bay leaf in cavity of chicken. Place chicken on a lightly oiled rack set into a small roasting pan, or on a broaster. Place in oven and roast for one hour, or until done, depending on size of chicken, until instant read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reads 165 degrees, or until thigh joint juices run clear, not pink, when pierced with a knife. Remove chicken from oven and allow to rest in a warm place 10 minutes before carving or cutting into serving pieces.

PERFECT ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• After removing giblets (discard or save for another recipe), salt and pepper inside of chicken.
• Stuff the cavity with thyme, lemon quarters and garlic halves.
• Brush the outside of the chicken with melted butter.
• Salt and pepper outside of chicken.
• Tie the legs together with string (good idea to soak string in water prior so it won't burn in the oven) and tuck the wings under the body.
• Cook in oven for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

PERFECTLY ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place chicken on work surface with the legs facing away from you. Using a boning knife, score the wings where they meet the body of the chicken. Hyperextend the wing bones to remove the wing but not the airline bones. Repeat this step on the other wing.
• Lay the chicken on it back with it legs facing away from you. De-bone the chicken starting with an incision along one side of the breast bone separating the meat from the rib cage until you reach where the hip meets the back of the chicken. Bring the knife down to just above the hip bone and cut, taking care not to rip the back skin of the bird.
• Remove the bones from the leg and thigh. Following the leg and thigh bone on either side, carefully scrape down the leg bone and then the thigh bone to remove meat from bones. Trim off any excess fat and discard. Repeat process with remaining half of chicken.
• Heat an ovenproof skillet, large enough to fit both pieces of chicken without crowding, over high heat and drizzle with oil. Lay the chicken flat on work surface. Season both sides with salt and the flesh side only with white pepper. When the oil in the skillet just begins to smoke, add chicken, skin side down. Transfer to oven and cook until skin becomes golden brown, and flesh just begins to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.