{"id":4635,"date":"2011-05-31T12:21:29","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T19:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/?p=4635"},"modified":"2011-07-17T11:33:12","modified_gmt":"2011-07-17T18:33:12","slug":"a-perfect-roast-chicken%e2%80%94in-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/a-perfect-roast-chicken%e2%80%94in-parts\/","title":{"rendered":"A perfect roast chicken\u2013in parts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A perfectly roasted chicken is among the most satisfying of foods, the golden skin crisp and crackling, the flesh tender and moist.\u00a0 It’s basically a simple dish yet it intimidates far too many cooks.<\/p>\n

I was reminded of this fact on a recent getaway with two of my best friends to a house overlooking the harbor at Bodega Bay.\u00a0 We had stopped at a nearby fish market on our way to the house in search of seafood for that night’s dinner. But the deliveries from the local boats hadn’t arrived.\u00a0 So we went to the little market across the road and a whole bird beckoned from the cold case.<\/p>\n

“Let’s roast a chicken,” I suggested.\u00a0 My friends looked skeptical.\u00a0 We were here for day of hiking, watching whales, reading books and lazing around the glass-enclosed deck.\u00a0 We wanted to eat well but fussing with dinner was not on the agenda.<\/p>\n

“It’ll be fine,” I promised.\u00a0 “We’ll do it Thomas Keller’s way.\u00a0 It’s simple and it always works great.” \u00a0 My friends still looked doubtful but the shopkeeper wrapped the chicken in butcher paper and we were on our way.<\/p>\n

That evening in the kitchen, we talked cooking.\u00a0 One friend always roasts her chickens in a venerable clay pot.\u00a0 The other follows James Beards’ lead and\u00a0 both covers the breast with bacon and bastes with melted butter.\u00a0 We knew cooks who always brined their chickens before roasting and those who stuffed a mixture of herbs and softened butter under the skin.<\/p>\n

For all his fame as the chef and owner of some of the most revered restaurants in the world, Thomas Keller does none of that for his favorite simple roast chicken as described in “Bouchon” (Artisan, 2004).\u00a0 He starts, as we did, with a very good farm-raised chicken, dries it well, sprinkles it with kosher salt and roasts it at 450 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour. Only when the chicken comes out of the oven does he baste it with the pan juices before letting it rest for 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

Keller does not fuss.\u00a0 He doesn’t even baste.\u00a0 And the chicken is perfect every time.<\/p>\n

We ate well that evening.\u00a0 My one variation was to stuff the chicken’s cavity with rosemary and cut-up lemons before roasting.\u00a0 When it came out of the oven, I squeezed the lemon juice over the bird after spooning\u00a0 juices over the skin.<\/p>\n

There was only one hitch.\u00a0 All three of us wanted the thighs and no one was that interested in the breast, juicy as it was.\u00a0 We came up with an equitable split of the dark meat and the breast meat went into a salad the next day.<\/p>\n

When I got home, I decided to see if I could get such good results with just parts \u2013 primarily thighs, of course.\u00a0 They were terrific, too, and much more practical for my small family.\u00a0 We just roast the parts we prefer.<\/p>\n

Not only is chicken prepared this way flavorful and moist right out of the oven, it’s great as leftovers the next day, served cold or at room temperature.\u00a0 This summer I may just ditch the fried chicken in favor of roasted parts for Sunday lunch or a picnic at the beach.<\/p>\n

SIMPLE ROASTED CHICKEN PARTS<\/strong>
\nserves 4<\/em> <\/p>\n

8 thighs from a free-range chicken or whatever parts you prefer
\nKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
\nHandful of rosemary branches
\n2 lemons quartered<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.\u00a0\u00a0 Pat chicken dry with paper towels, sprinkle skin side generously with salt and season with pepper.<\/p>\n

Arrange rosemary branches on the bottom of\u00a0 a large cast iron skillet or oven-safe saute pan.\u00a0 Distribute lemon quarters around the pan.\u00a0 Place chicken parts, skin side up, over rosemary and lemons.\u00a0 Roast for about 30 minutes, until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked (about 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer).<\/p>\n

Remove chicken from oven and immediately spoon pan juices over the parts. After the chicken has cooled for a few minutes, squeeze juice from the roasted lemons over the skin.\u00a0 Let rest 10 minutes in all and serve.<\/p>\n

Aleta Watson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A perfectly roasted chicken is among the most satisfying of foods, the golden skin crisp and crackling, the flesh tender and moist.\u00a0 It’s basically a simple dish yet it intimidates far too many cooks. I was reminded of this fact on a recent getaway with two of my best friends to a house overlooking the … Continue reading A perfect roast chicken\u2013in parts<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4635"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4779,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions\/4779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}