Kevin's Almost Perfect Roast Chicken
Ingredients:
4 Cups of Salt
8 cups of Water approx.
1 chicken
4-5 large carrots with skins shaved off
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1/2 cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Fresh Thyme, Rosemary, Peppercorns
2 small onions
1 head of garlic
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add your salt.
2. Add in the thyme, rosemary, and peppercorns and the head of garlic and then stir it into the mixture
3. Turn off the heat and place the pot of water in a cool area until the water is cold.
4. When the water is cold place your chicken into the brine and ensure it is submerged into the solution. Leave it overnight or for at least 12 hours.
Roasting the Chicken
5. Take your chicken out of the solution and place it on a rack and let it sit until it gets to room temperature. This is a technique I learned from Thomas Keller. By allowing the chicken to get to room temperature and air dry you are helping the cooking process. If you placed the chicken right into the oven after you take it out of the solution or the fridge it will take you a longer time because the chicken will cook from the outside in LONGER. The chicken will probably take around 1 - 1.5 hours to come to room temperature
6. During that time while your chicken is room temperaturing you can get your other prep ready. I like to cook vegetables with my chicken to add flavour but also so I don't need to worry about cleaning more dishes to cook the vegetables. I like to add in carrots, onions, and garlic with the chicken when it roasts. With the onions you can slice it in half and just leave it as that. When the onions come out with the chicken when the chicken is ready the onions are super tender and sweet!
7. For picture above I used a frying pan to cook the chicken just to see how it turned out but you can also use a large roasting tray. Place your roasting tray or frying pan on a high heat and add in some oil, stir it around so that the oil coats the bottom of the pan. Add in your chopped up carrots, onions, and garlic (just smash the garlic on the cutting board and add it in, and keep it rustic!). Stir it around until all the veg are coated in the hot oil. Season it with salt and pepper. Add in the lemon whole in the pan.
8. Take your chicken and rub olive oil all over the outside of it then generously season with salt and pepper all over and even the inside of the chicken! Get your hands all up in it!
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| My Chicken before I cooked it |
9. Place the chicken ontop of the bed of lightly sauteed veg and lemon and place it in the oven for an hour and a bit. Also pour in the white wine. In the picture above I spatchcocked the chicken which is basically removing the spine of the chicken and cut it it in half and roasted it in the oven and placed it under the broiler to get some really nice colour on the bird. ( I will dedicate a post to how to spatchcock a chicken)
10. Check on your chicken from time to time. You will know the chicken is ready when you cut into the thigh of the chicken and the flesh would be white. At this point if my chicken has been in the oven for a while like an hour and a few minutes I would then chop up the bird and place it under the broiler for a few minutes so that way the skin will crisp up and the parts of the chicken that aren't cooked will cook.
11. For the gravy you can just pour all the bottom juices from the pan through a strainer into a pan and bring the pan to a simmer and let the juices reduce.
TIP: When your chicken is done cooking it is best to let it rest for a bit like maybe 10 minutes. Then serve! If you serve the chicken right away all the juices will pour out of the bird. Patience is golden!
GOOD LUCK!
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| My Roast Chicken served with creamy mashed potatoes, roasted veg, and roasted jus |
KMW
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