When Lucy heard about my new blog, she requested a recipe for Roast chicken..... How is it that she has lived with her chef mother all her life and doesn't know how to roast a chicken! Argghh!! Where did I go wrong! I guess that roasting chickens is just second nature to me and I think nothing of throwing one in the oven for dinner. In a one and half hours, the crispy skinned bird does double duty for a hot meal, sandwiches or salad.
When I was growing up in London, it was very common for us to sit down together as a family for "sunday lunch". It was usually a roast of some kind - chicken, lamb, pork or beef. Sunday was a day for families and we would pop the "roast" in the oven before going to church and finish off the vegetables and gravy when we got home. We would discuss the coming week and generally catch up on everyone's life. This tradition has probably gone by the wayside now, kids these days have far too many activities going on to sit down to sunday lunch! We, as parents, now use this day to go shopping, cross things off the "honey-do" list and with any luck grab a quick sandwich for lunch, if we're lucky.
Why are people so daunted by cooking a whole chicken? The thought of pink, undercooked flesh and the scare of salmonella quickly comes to mind but as a professional chef and cooking teacher, I just recommend following the food safety rules. The handling of raw poultry is also a concern because of cross-contamination. But, did you know that it's no longer necessary to wash chicken anymore? It's been found that this causes more problems of cross-contamination, so in other words, the less handling, the better - all the bacteria will be destroyed when cooked. This government website is useful for the full facts of cooking chicken safely. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/chicken_food_safety_focus/index.asp
So, how do you really know when a chicken is cooked to juicy perfection, but not a over-cooked and dried out? My answer is the meat thermometer. Any well respected chef who has passed the Safeserve certificate, knows the risks of undercooked chicken and so wears a thermometer in the sleeve of his/her chef's coat. I don't trust the pop-up plastic plugs that sometimes come with roasters or turkeys. The temperature of a chicken should be taken in the thickest part of the thigh and it will read 165/170 degrees when cooked. As with all meats, it's best to rest the roast for 10 minutes or so before cutting, this allows the juices to settle back into the meat and not run all over the cutting board.
So this recipe is for Lucy and for all you scaredy cats out there.
Easy Roast Chicken
(Serves 4 - 6)
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (2 1/2 - 3 lbs), cavity fat and giblets removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried herbs, thyme, rosemary etc.
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Rub chicken with oil and season generously on all sides with salt, pepper, herbs and garlic.
- Place chicken on roasting or baking tray and cook for approx. 1 hour 15 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 165/170 degrees F, or until juices run clear.
- You can baste the bird a couple of times during cooking - just tilt the pan to the side, so you can fill a large spoon with the juices. Then, pour the liquid all over the top, 2 or 3 spoonfuls does the job.
- Remove from the oven, then tent chicken with foil and leave to rest while making pan gravy. (see recipe below)
Pan Gravy - Put the roasting pan over the burner on medium heat.
- Spoon off any excess fat floating on the top of the juices if necessary.
- Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons flour over the pan juices, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes.
- Add 2 cups chicken broth and scrape the pan to lift the bits that are stuck to the bottom.
- Bring to a simmer, and stir until thickened. Adjust thickness of gravy by adding more broth if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.
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