The Perfect Roasted Chicken

I made a roasted chicken for dinner last night that was so good, and so succulent, I surprised even myself :) I took a little bit of extra effort with this one, and it really paid off. Below are the details -- and don't be dissuaded from making it -- it's actually quite easy and well worth it!

This recipe is for your standard 4-6 pound chicken (usually referred to as a fryer) -- but it can work equally well for the larger roasters (8-10 pounds). I prefer using organic chicken -- while I like to eat organic as often as availability and budget will allow, I'm not one that usually finds a difference in taste between organic and non-organic. Chicken is the exception -- for some reason, I always find it tastes better than regular chicken.

24 hours before you want to cook the chicken, you should set it to "brine." At its most basic level, brining a bird means soaking it in salted water -- this is the perfect way to tenderize the meat. The salt helps break down the meat ever so slightly, yet when done properly, the meat doesn't absorb any appreciable amount of salt to disrupt the taste or add unnecessary sodium to your diet. Most brines call for a LOT of salt in the water, but after experimenting, I've discovered that you really don't need a lot of salt to accomplish the task at hand. You can also add all sorts of additional flavors to the brine to help further flavor the chicken.

Here's how I do it:

Take a large pasta pot and fill it 1/4 of the way with very warm water to help dissolve the salt and bring out the additional flavors. Add no more than 2 tbsp. of kosher salt (which is much lower in sodium than regular table salt, but sacrifices no flavor), and take a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme and sage (you can used dried herbs if fresh aren't available) and after crushing them up a bit to release their flavors, add to the water. Also throw in 4-5 smashed cloves of garlic and a handful of peppercorns, stir vigorously, and let this steep for about 10-15 minutes. Then add cold water and a few handfuls of ice so that the water comes up half way the side of the pot. After making sure that the brine is really cold, add the chicken to this water, making sure that the cavities fill with the solution, and then add just enough water so that the bird is fully submerged in the brine. Then put it in your fridge for 24 hours.

When it's done brining, remove it from the liquid, give it a good rinse, and dry thoroughly on the inside and out. Prepare a roasting dish by drizzling a thin coat of olive oil on the bottom, and then covering with a few chopped carrots and one thickly sliced onion. Sprinkle it with a pinch of salt and throw in some rosemary and thyme to flavor what will become the gravy. Place the chicken on top of this for roasting.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and finish prepping the chicken. Take one lemon and cut it into thin slices. Loosen up the skin on the chicken breast, and work your way into the legs as well. Slide one slice of lemon into each chicken leg, and 2-3 slices on top of each side of the breast meat. Also add one small sprig of rosemary in each leg and one slightly larger one on top each side of the breast meat. As it cooks, both will release their flavors into the meat, but will not over-power it.

As a final step, rub olive oil all over the skin of the chicken, and then put salt, pepper, and some herbs de provence all over the skin.

Once the chicken is fully prepped, place it in the pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes to give the skin an instant blast of heat and start the crisping process. Then turn the heat down to 375 degrees for the rest of the cooking time. As a general rule, chicken should roast for 20 minutes per pound, plus 10-20 extra minutes added at the end. When you cut the leg and thigh from the bird, the juices should be perfectly clear.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the roasting pan, and place on a welled-cutting board. Cover with foil and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. While it's resting, strain all the veggies and juices from the bottom of your roasting pan, and put the juices into a small pot. Let it sit and cool for about 5 minutes so the fat will rise to the top and then skim off as much as you can. Then put it over medium flame, throw in a generous splash of sherry or dry vermouth (the real stuff, not the cooking versions of each!) and boil vigorously to burn off the alcohol. Serve this along-side the carved chicken as a nice light gravy.

When carving the bird, remove the lemon and rosemary from under the skin. Arrange nicely on a platter, scattered with some wedges of lemon, thyme, sage and/or rosemary for garnish, and enjoy. The bird should be totally succulent and rich in flavor! I promise it will be a hit -- a great meal for Sunday dinner, or to impress company.