Instructions:

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven based on your chosen roasting method (below).

2. Line the roasting pan rack with heavy-duty foil, folding the edges to create a (non-leaking) shallow tray for self-basting.

Note: I discovered this method accidentally.  Rio did not have a roasting pan or rack, so I bought one of those flexible tin foil pans at the grocery store. While cooking the chicken breast-side down, the foil pan collapsed around the chicken breast, pooling  all juices, seasoning and butter around the breast. The result was a self-basting chicken beautifully seasoned and so, so moist.  

1. Coat the chicken generously with melted butter and olive oil, inside and out. Pour the remaining butter into the foil tray.

2. Sprinkle liberally with poultry seasoning. If you’re adding lemon, onion, or garlic to the cavity, keep in mind this will change the flavor of the sauce. (Yes, there's always a sauce).

3. Truss the chicken to keep it juicy. Watch a video to learn how.

Roasting methods:

Slow Roasting a chicken gives you much more moist meat (3 - 4 hours).

High-Heat Roasting a chicken gives you much crispier skin (1 - 1½ hours).

Cooking at a medium temperature gives you neither.

Slow Roasting (Moist Meat):

1. Preheat the oven to 225°F.

2. Place the chicken breast-side down in a roasting pan and baste occasionally as it cooks.

3. Roast until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast reaches 150°F.

4. Increase the oven temperature to 425°F to crisp the skin. Turn the chicken breast-side up, remove the foil, and pour the contents of the foil into the pan.

5. Continue roasting until the final internal temperatures are 165°F in the breast and 185°F in the thigh.

High-Heat Roasting (Crispy Skin):

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Place the chicken breast-side down in a roasting pan and baste every 20 minutes.

3. Roast until the skin is browned, then turn the chicken breast-side up.

4. Remove the foil and pour the contents into the pan.

5. Continue roasting until the final internal temperatures are 165°F in the breast and 185°F in the thigh.

Rest:
Let the chicken rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute, keeping the meat moist.

Carve: using the Whole Breast Method (see at page?)

Chicken Sauces

Mustard, Lemon, and Caper Sauce for Roasted Chicken

This is a beloved family recipe. When Rio, Nicholas, and Morgan were younger, they’d lick their plates clean to savor every drop of the sauce. I’d like to say their manners have improved, but whether it’s with a spoon, bread, their fingers, or still just licking their plates, they’re just as determined to get every last bit.

When George and I make it for two, there’s enough sauce to serve the chicken and mashed potatoes in a shallow soup dish—and yes, we’ve been known to eat the rest of the sauce with a spoon. There’s even been talk of turning it into a proper soup, but we haven’t quite cracked the code yet.

Balancing the flavors of the sauce might take a little practice, but trust me—it’s so, so worth it.

Ingredients:

• The chicken you just roasted and it’s pan - about 4-5 lbs (I brine the chicken or buy kosher chicken - both highly unnecessary)

• 1¾ sticks of unsalted butter (1 stick to coat the chicken, ½ to sauté vegetables, ¼ and to finish the sauce)

• Mirepoix

• 3-4 green onions

• A medium carrot

• A small celery stalk

Note: If you rough chop the vegetables, you need to strain the sauce (less sauce). If you very finely chop the vegetables, you can leave them in the sauce (more sauce, yay)

• Fresh Bouquet Garni, finely minced parsley, thyme, and bay leaf (about 1 tablespoon total). Optional: add some rosemary

• OR: Dried Bouquet Garni herbs (Penzeys Spices online)

Note: I always use Italian parsley—it tastes better and is easier to chop

• 1 cup dry vermouth

• 2 cups of unsalted chicken stock

• 2-3 Tbsp of chicken demi-glace (William Sonoma)

• 1-2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard (I use Boars Head deli mustard, the French would shudder in disgust)

• 2 Tbsp capers

• 1 lemon

• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Take chicken out of the roasting pan and place on a platter or cutting board with grooves. Put the rack in the sink and talk someone into washing it.

In the same roasting pan

• Set the roasting pan over medium to medium-high heat.

• There should be brown bits in the bottom of the pan. If you don’t see much in the pan, don’t panic. This is literally why they invented demi-glace.

Note: The brown bits at the bottom of the pan are called fond. Fond is French for "base" or "foundation". They are caramelized bits of meat, fat, and juices that are created in the pan during roasting or sautéing. If you care, (and you don’t), the process is called the Maillard reaction. 

Note: Fond + Mirepoix + Bouquet Garni + Deglazing = amazing French sauces.

• Add 2-3 Tbsp of butter, add a splash of olive oil.

¾ tablespoon dried bouquet garni herbs or  fresh herbs.

Note: If you put the dried spices in a spice diffuser you avoid the sharp rosemary needles

• Add the mirepoix and sauté on medium low (275°) until they’re soft. You are sweating the vegetables, not browning them. This should take about 10 - 15 minutes depending on how hungry you are.

• Deglaze - Pour in a cup of vermouth, and scrape up the brown bits, herbs and veggies. Reduce the mixture until you’ve got a couple of syrupy Tbsp left.

Note: if you don’t reduce the vermouth the sauce will be irredeemably bitter. 

• Add 2 cups of chicken stock

• Mix in as much chicken demi-glace as you like—the more you add the richer the sauce.

• Take approximately ¼ cup of the mixture from the pan and mix in the mustard in a small cup, stir it back into the pan. This is called tempering.

• Reduce the sauce until it’s thick enough to coat a spoon.

Note: To strain or not to strain? If you like your sauce smooth, go for it. If you don’t mind a little texture, skip it.

• Add capers and check the flavor.

Note: If the capers are too vinegary or salty they will change the flavor of the sauce (I use Cento and rinse).

• Hold half a lemon over the pan, squeeze twice - two squirts to start, you can add as you go, but add the salt first, give it a hot sec, then taste it before you add more lemon.

Note: the sauce tastes stronger in the pan than it will on the chicken

• Season with salt and pepper – if you used unsalted butter and stock, you may need a lot of salt. - “There’s never too much salt.” - Rio Parker

• Finish by swirling in cold cubed butter until the sauce is smooth and glossy.

• Ladle the sauce over the chicken and mashed potatoes, cauliflower or pasta. Serve the vegetables on the side, because they will also change the flavor of the sauce

Adjustments

This sauce is a balance of mustard, lemon and salt, add more of each as needed. Watch the salt! If you’re using salted butter, salted stock, and demi-glace, you could end up with a salt lick. If the sauce is too weak, add more demi-glace—”because there’s no such thing as too rich” - George Andary