Roast Chicken, cooking made easy from the expert JULIA CHILD

Cooking Time:

Ingredients

• A 3-lb., ready-to-cook roasting or frying chicken
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tb softened butter
• To flavor the sauce: a small sliced carrot and onion
• For basting: a small saucepan containing 2 Tb melted butter
• and 1 Tb good cooking oil
• 1/2 Tb minced shallot or green onion
• 1 cup brown chicken stock, canned chicken broth, or beef bouillon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 to 2 Tb softened butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with 1/4 tespoon salt, and smear in half the butter. Truss the chicken. Dry it thoroughly, and rub the skin with the rest of the butter.

Place the chicken breast up in the roasting pan. Strew the vegetables around it, and set it on a rack in the middle of the preheated oven. Allow the chicken to brown lightly for 15 minutes, turning it on the left side after 5 minutes, on the right side for the last 5 minutes, and basting it with the butter and oil after each turn. Baste rapidly, so oven does not cool off. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Leave the chicken on its side, and baste every 8 to 10 minutes, using the fat in the roasting pan when the butter and oil are exhausted. Regulate oven heat so chicken is making cooking noises, but fat is not burning.

Halfway through estimated roasting time, salt the chicken (1/4 teaspoon) and turn it on its other side. Continue basting.

Fifteen minutes before end of estimated roasting time, salt (1/4 teaspoon) again and turn the chicken breast up. Continue basting.

Indications that the chicken is almost done are: a sudden rain of splutters in the oven, a swelling of the breast and slight puff of the skin, the drumstick is tender when pressed and can be moved in its socket. To check further, prick the thickest part of the drumstick with a fork. Its juices should run clear yellow. As a final check, lift the chicken and drain the juices from its vent. If the last drops are clear yellow, the chicken is definitely done. If not, roast another 5 minutes, and test again.

When done, discard trussing strings and set the chicken on a hot platter. It should sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before being carved, so its juices will retreat back into the tissues.

Remove all but two tablespoons of fat from the pan. Stir in the minced shallot or onion and cook slowly for 1 minute. Add the stock and boil rapidly over high heat, scraping up coagulated roasting juices with a wooden spoon and letting liquid reduce to about ½ cup. Season with salt and pepper. Off heat and just before serving, swirl in the enrichment butter by bits until it has been absorbed. Pour a spoonful of the sauce over the chicken, and send the rest to the table in a sauceboat.

Notes

Equipment: A shallow roasting pan just large enough to hold the chicken easily and a basting brush

AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE:

Roast chicken can wait for 20 to 30 minutes in the turned-off hot oven, its door ajar. It cannot be reheated or it loses its fresh and juicy quality.

VEGETABLE SUGGESTIONS:

Broiled tomatoes, buttered green beans or peas, and sautéed, roasted, souffléed, or fried potatoes, or potato crêpes. Stuffed mushrooms, glazed carrots, and glazed onions. Ratatouille and sautéed potatoes

WINE SUGGESTIONS

A light red wine, such as a Bordeaux-Médoc, or a rosé