No-Fail Roast Chicken with Lemon & Garlic

 

Ingredients:

3-1/2 to 4 lb chicken
1 lemon
1 head of garlic
1/2 stick of butter or 1/4 cup of olive oil
salt & ground pepper

1.  Arrange a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 425 degrees.  Cut 1 lemon in half cross-wise and remove visible seeds. 

2.  Cut 1 head of garlic in half cross-wise. 

3.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter in microwave in a small bowl. 

4.  Place whole chicken on a cutting board and pat with paper towels to get as dry as possible. 

5. With chicken breast facing up and legs pointing toward you, use a sharp knife to slice through loose area of skin connecting the leg and breast, making about a 3"-long incision. Continue cutting downward until you hit the joint that connects the thigh to the body, then stop (once you get through the skin, there’s not much there; if you are cutting through flesh, you’re too close to the breast). This exposes the leg joint, making it easy to tell if chicken is cooked. Repeat on second side.

6.  Season surface of the chicken and inside the cavity with salt & pepper. 

7.  Transfer the chicken, breast-side up, into a skillet and arrange lemon and garlic, cut-side down around the chicken. 

8. Drizzle chicken with melted butter and transfer to oven.

9. Roast until chicken is nicely browned and cooked through, checking for doneness after 45 minutes. To check, carefully remove skillet from oven (the handle is hot!), poke a knife into leg joints, and pierce the meat. If juices run clear, the chicken is done. If you see a rosy pink color, it needs more time. Continue to roast, checking every 5 minutes, until juices run clear. 

10. Let chicken rest in skillet at least 15 minutes before carving—this will help the juices in the meat to settle.  Transfer chicken to a platter. Pour all of the buttery pan juices over top of the meat and serve with roasted lemon and garlic alongside. 

One-Pan Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

12 ounces Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and halved
12 ounces red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces shallots, peeled and halved
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled
4 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3-1/2 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (our 8-piece pack)

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475.  Toss Brussels sprouts, potatoes, shallots, carrots, garlic, 2 tsp thyme, oil, 1 tsp rosemary, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 tsp pepper together.  In a second bowl, combine butter, remaining thyme and rosemary, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and set aside.

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.  Place vegetables in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet, arranging Brussels sprouts in center.  Place chicken, skin side up, on top of vegetables arranging breast pieces in center and leg/thigh pieces around the perimeter.

Brush chicken with herb butter mixture and roast until breast registers 160 F and thighs/drumsticks 175 F, about 35-40 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through roasting.

Transfer chicken to a serving platter and let rest 10 minutes.  Toss vegetables in pan juices add to platter with chicken.

Whole Roasted Truffle Chicken

Recipe by Chef Charlie Palmer


This recipe was first created and served at Aureole New York in 1988. Variations of it still appear on the menu to this day and it would be the perfect dish to serve for Christmas Eve.

Serves 4.

Ingredients
4 ounces butter, soft
1/2 ounce truffle oil
salt and pepper
One 3-1/2 lb Browder's Organic chicken
1/2 lemon
4 thyme sprigs
1 garlic clove

1.  Combine butter with truffle oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

2.  Pipe butter mixture under the skin of the chicken breasts and legs.  Place fingers under skin and rub around.

3.  Tie drumsticks together with twine at knuckle joint.  Place chicken in fridge and allow to air-dry for 24 hours.

4.  Remove chicken from fridge and insert lemon, thyme and garlic into cavity.  Allow chicken to sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

5.  Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake chicken for 45 minutes.