HappyCook80's Recipe

Roast Chicken With Lemon and Herbs

Category: Recipes

Roast Chicken With Lemon and Herbs

1 fresh 3 1/2 pound chicken
salt and pepper
6 fresh sage leaves or 4 sprigs of fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon
dried herbes de Provence
1 large lemon, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup mixed roughly chopped carrots and onions

Deglazing Sauce:
1 tablespoon minced shallot or scallion
1/3 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon or so unsalted butter, optional

Set the rack on the lower middle level and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly, inside and out, under hot water,
then dry it with paper towels. Remove any lumps of fat from inside
the cavity near the tail opening.

To make carving easier, remove the wishbone. Lift the flap of neck
skin and insert a thin, sharp knife into each end of the breast, then
slice diagonally along both sides of the wishbone. Use your finger
and thumb to loosen the bone, pry it out at the top, and pull it
down. If it breaks, carefully wiggle out the pieces.

Trim the small bony protrusions, or "nubbins," from the wing-tip
joint. Then fold the wings along the breast, where they will be held
in place by the V-rack.

Salt and pepper the cavity and stuff it with the sage leaves and 3
or 4 thick slices of lemon, give the slices a squeeze as you put them
in. Massage the butter over the entire chicken skin, including
undersides, then salt generously.

Tie the ends of the drumsticks together with twine. Arrange the
chicken breast up on the rack in the roasting pan and tuck the flap
of neck skin underneath. Finally, squeeze the juice of the remaining
lemon pieces all over the top of the chicken.

Roasting the chicken: Set the roasting pan in the oven. After 15
minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees. When the chicken is beginning to brown rapidly, baste the chicken with accumulated pan juices. Roast for an hour, adding the onions and carrots after 30 minutes and basting several times. Very carefully test for doneness, checking for easy movement in the leg joint and clear color in the juices. Return it to the oven if there is any sign of pinkness. (A small chicken will roast in about 1 1/4 hours, a larger one may take 1 1/2 hours or more.)

When done, remove the chicken from the rack and set it on a board
to rest for 15 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to
retreat back into the flesh.

Have ready a strainer set over a small saucepan. Tilt the roasting
pan so the remaining fat and juices accumulate in one corner.
Carefully spoon off most of the fat. Place the roasting pan on a
stove burner over medium heat; add the shallots and stir for a
moment, until sizzling. Pour in the vermouth and the stock and heat
rapidly to a simmer, scraping up all the glazed bits in the pan. Cook
briefly until the glaze is melted, Strain into the saucepan, pressing
the strained bits to release their juice. (If you like the bits,
don't strain.) Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning, you may add more wine or stock, and boil it down a bit to thicken. Whisk in the butter just before serving, if you wish, for a richer finish.

Drizzle about half the pan sauce over the carved chicken pieces
and serve, passing the rest of the sauce.
Serves 4 to 6.