Nobody gets excited about a chicken dinner, but I think they should. At least I do. I don’t think there’s anything better than a properly roasted chicken –crisp on the outside, moist and tender inside, and filled with the comforting flavors of fresh chicken and herbs. Pairing this classic everyday dish with a luxurious side and a glass or two of Champagne makes it fit for a special occasion. It would be worth a great effort, but, in fact, this deeply satisfying dish has few and common ingredients and comes together in about an hour.
I think people shy away from cooking whole chickens for a couple of good reasons. First, we’ve all eaten a lot of bad baked chicken, the main problems being soft, slimy skin, choke-on-it dry breast meat and a general tastelessness. Second, some are intimidated by carving the bird into tidy pieces, particularly under pressure. Carving is easy (instructions below), but bad-tasting chicken is a real and common problem.
Fortunately, I think I’ve cracked the code: use a small chicken and a hot oven. And I mean small — 2.75 to 3.50 pounds, which will serve two to three people. If you’re cooking for more, just roast more chickens. With a small bird, the ratio of skin to light and dark meat keeps the whole chicken moist and tender as it cooks. As the birds get larger, I find the risk increases that the breasts will dry out by the time the legs and thighs are fully cooked. Of course, the quality of the chicken matters too: an organic, vegetarian-fed, free-range chicken from a local farm is best for your palate, your health and the planet.
The side dish here is just a twist on a classic. Good truffle oil, available at good supermarkets and specialty food stores, is relatively expensive (e.g. $24.95 for 3.75 oz at www.surlatable.com), but a little goes a long way, so it’s a cost-effective way of adding the luxurious flavor and aroma of truffles to the dish. If you don’t have or don’t care for truffle oil, the dish is delicious without it too. Like the chicken, you want your potatoes to be crispy outside and a tender inside (rather than leathery outside and dense and waxy inside). After some experimentation, I’ve concluded that peeling and parboiling the potatoes before roasting is the most reliable way to this result.
Finally, the Champagne. I’m completely mystified as to why people don’t often drink Champagne (or the many other good and less expensive dry sparkling wines from California and Spain) with savory dishes, reserving it instead to serve as an aperitif or with sweets (which I don’t get at all). This is a delicious pairing. Try it. And, while you’re shaking things up, serve the Champagne in regular white wine glasses.
Recipe
Ingredients (for two to three people)
For the chicken:
1 2.75 – 3.50lb chicken
fresh thyme or rosemary
kosher salt and pepper
For the potatoes:
6 (or so) medium yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Golds
2 small or 1 large yellow onion
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of truffle oil
kosher or coarse sea salt and pepper
1. When you get the chicken home from the market, unwrap it, dry it inside and out with paper towels and then salt the outside with about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. You can then rewrap and store it until you’re ready to cook. (If you forget this step, no worries. Pre-salting is helpful, but not necessary to a good roast chicken.)
2. About 45 minutes to an hour before you’re ready to roast, pull the chicken out of the fridge, unwrap it and let it sit in the open to warm up a bit. Preheat the oven to 475F.
3. Dry the chicken, and, if you haven’t salted it earlier, do so now. Also, push a couple of sprigs of thyme or rosemary under the skin over each breast and thigh.
4. On the stove, heat a flameproof roasting pan over high heat for about two minutes. The pan should not be much larger than the chicken. (If you don’t have a small roaster, an overproof skillet works well too.) Dry the chicken again with paper towels and then put it in the hot pan. It should sizzle. Then, put it in the preheated oven. There’s no need to add any fat to the pan: if the pan is hot and the chicken is dry, the bird won’t stick.
5. Roast the chicken for about 25 minutes. If the fat it renders starts to smoke, turn the love down to about 450F.
6. While the chicken is roasting, halve the onion lengthwise, peel it, and then cut it into thick slices. Toss the onion pieces in a metal roasting pan or on a baking sheet with a tablespoon of the olive oil. Put this pan in the oven when you turn the chicken for the first time.
7. Place a large pot full of water over hight heat. Peel the potatoes and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on their size.
8. When the water reaches the boil, add a teaspoon of salt and the potatoes and boil them in the salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain, cover the pot and shake it vigorously for a few seconds. This will bruise the potatoes, making their outsides crispier when they roast. Set aside.
9. After 25 minutes, take the chicken out of the oven and, using a sturdy spatula, loosen it from the pan, if necessary, and turn it over. (Using tongs to do this can tear the skin.)
10. Return the chicken to the oven and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the bottom side is golden brown and crispy. Turn the chicken and return to the oven a final time to recrisp the top, whichwill take about 10-15 mintues.
11. At the time you turn the chicken for the last time, take the onions out of the oven, add the potatoes, three tablespoons of olive oil, the truffle oil and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt or kosher salt and pepper to the pan and toss.
Return to the oven for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and the onions are carmelized.
12. When it’s time to remove the chicken from the oven, lift the chicken out of the roasting pan and place it on a platter. Let it rest for about 5-10 minutes before carving.
13. Meanwhile, pour off all the fat from the roasting pan and add about a half cup of white wine or water. Stir over low heat, loosening all of the nice crusty bits and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the taste of alcohol disappears. When the sauce is finished, turn off the heat and cover.
14. Carve the chicken. Forget the pressure of all of the ceremonial “Would you like to carve?” nonsense: this isn’t a test of your manhood, just you knife skills, and it’s simple. First, pull the legs away from the carcass with your fingers or a fork, cutting through the attaching skin with a knife. They should easily separate from the carcass at the joint with just a little help from the knife, or none at all.
Next, find the ridge of cartilage between the breasts with your fingers. Work your knife alongside it, gently pushing down and out, separating the breast meat from the bone.
You can leave the wing attached to the breast, or slice the breast in two, leaving some breast meat attached to the wing to make it a more desirable portion.
15. Plate the chicken and potatoes and pour the pan sauce into a bowl or small pitcher to serve on the side. Serve with Champagne or sparkling wine and a fresh, green vegetable.
