Roasted Chicken 101 Recipes

ROASTED CHICKEN 101

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. To assure even cooking, remove chicken from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. If the chicken comes with a plastic pop-up thermometer, discard it; the readings are often inaccurate. After rinsing the chicken inside and out with cold running water, dry it with paper towels. Tuck the tips of the wings under the bottom to keep them from burning.
• Place onion slices in two rows in a heavy-duty roasting pan to form a bed for the chicken. The onions will flavor the chicken and the pan juices that form the base of the gravy. To help release the lemon's essence, roll it back and forth with the palm of your hand, pressing on top; then pierce the surface all over with a fork. Put garlic, thyme, and lemon inside the chicken's cavity.
• Set chicken on the bed of onion slices, breast-side up. Then bring legs forward, cross them, and tie them together with about 18 inches of kitchen twine. (Tying the legs is much simpler than trussing the bird, which requires tying the body.)
• Spread butter over the entire exposed surface of the chicken to ensure even browning. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper.
• Place the chicken in the oven; in about 30 minutes, the skin should be crisp and a deep golden-brown color, and the juices should run clear when the chicken is pierced. Check the internal temperature of the breasts and thighs with an instant-read thermometer. When ready, the reading in the deepest part of the breast should be 180 degrees; the deepest part of the thigh should be 190 degrees.
• When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it from the pan, and transfer it to a cutting board with a well to catch the juices. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for up to 20 minutes. The juices, which rise to the surface when cooking, will settle and redistribute evenly throughout the chicken. While it rests, make the pan gravy.
• Untie the legs of the chicken. Remove the lemon, garlic, and herbs from the cavity of the chicken; discard. Place the chicken on a serving platter, breast side up, and, using a sharp knife, carve the bird: Use a large fork to pull one of the legs away from the body. With the tip of your knife, find the joint that connects the leg to the body, and sever it. Cut the thigh away from the drumstick at the second joint. To remove the breasts, cut straight down between them, following the contour of the rib cage, until you hit the wishbone. Cut through the joint where it meets the breastbone. Serve the individual pieces, or cut the breast into thin slices for a more elegant presentation.

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

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.

THE BEST ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Mix butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a bowl.
• Loosen skin on chicken breast; rub butter mixture between skin and breast meat. Press on the skin to distribute evenly. Rub oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper all over; place lemon halves inside cavity. Set in a baking pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven, basting after 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Let rest before carving, about 15 minutes.

JUICY ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
• Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.