French Style Roast Chicken With Herb Butter

French Style Roast Chicken With Herb Butter

Backstory

The motivation for preparing this dish is more practical than anything. The batch of Brown Chicken Stock yielded just over a gallon but it’s almost gone, so I need another carcass to make some more. I’ve also prepared the Beer Can Chicken recipe a few additional times since August however I’m not much of a beer drinker and purchasing individual 12 fluid ounce cans has proven challenging. Then earlier this month I was surfing other food blogs and noticed a lot of whole roasted chickens reviewed which provided some inspiration and with Thanksgiving approaching I thought this would be a more appropriate size, considering it’s just me and my wife eating it. (I’m not preparing the turkey this year.)

Recipe

Lately, I’ve been using Google for recipes but a quick search yielded uninspiring complementary ingredients, so I went back to foodbuzz and found Ellie of Almost Bourdain. I believe she copied and pasted the narrative directly from Mr. Bourdain’s book Les Halles Cookbook but the passion was conveyed through the written word on her site so I adapted the recipe.

Passionate foodies will call this blasphemous, but I tend to use dried herbs and spices much more than fresh primarily because they last longer. Often, I find that the local supermarkets sell in quantities which are more than I need for one recipe and the leftovers sit in the refrigerator until they rot. This problem will resolve itself eventually because one of my long-term goals is to start a herb garden.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (approximately 4 to 5 pounds)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 lemon

1 onion, peeled and halved

1 tablespoon dried rosemary

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons herbed butter (see Note 1)

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

3 tablespoons softened butter

1 1/2 cup white wine, divided

3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon dried tarragon

1 tablespoon chicken stock

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove and save the giblets. Rinse the inside of the chicken with cold water and at dry with a paper towel. Season the cavity with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Using butcher’s twine, tie the ends of the legs together over the breasts as tightly as possible, but without tearing the skin. Rub the outside of the chicken with salt, pepper and tarragon. Put the lemon, onion half and garlic in the chicken cavity. Carefully lift the skin over the breast and slide 1 tablespoon of the herbed butter on each side. Rub the outside of the chicken with the unseasoned butter.

2. Place the other half of the onion in the middle of the roasting pan along with the giblets. Place the chicken on top with the breast side up. Pour 1/2 cup white wine in the pan and place in the oven for 30 minutes, basting occasionally. After 30 minutes, increase the temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for another 25 minutes after which test the doneness by poking the thigh. If the fluid that drains is clear, the chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

3. Put the pan over high heat on the stove top, add the remaining wine and scrape the bottom to loosen the brown bits. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Remove the giblets and onion and then whisk in the remaining butter, parsley, salt, pepper and chicken stock. Carve chicken and serve with the sauce.

Notes

1. Herbed Butter. Combine the following ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 1 tablespoon each basil and parsley, 1/2 tablespoon each rosemary, thyme, and honey, 1 pinch each salt and pepper.

2. Butcher’s twine. The process of roasting is relatively straight forward so I looked for recipes that were more challenging, which is a reason I chose this recipe. (Many used herbs as a rub before placing the bird in the oven.) However, the recipes I reviewed consistently noted to tie the legs as close to the breast as possible because the legs and wings will cook faster than the breast meat, if left alone. Butcher’s twine is essential because other types have chemicals in the material that can cook into the food.

Legs Tied Together

MasterChef Evaluation

Taste: 7

Ease of Preparation: 8

Sophistication: 5

Bottom Line: Not Right Now

Final Thoughts

Many recipes I reviewed used a rack in the roasting pan to evenly cook the chicken all over however one sitting in its own juices will me more flavorful and will prevent the chicken from drying out, so I thought I had a happy medium by placing the chicken on an onion. The chicken kept sliding off of the onion and giblets, however. Ultimately, I ended up placing the parts against the wings to hold them closer to the breast meat. One other issue I have with many of the recipes I’ve found is that the methods I reviewed noted that the chicken is done when the thigh is poked and the juices run clear (as opposed to pink) with no way of determining if the chicken is over cooked. One method noted to use an instant read thermometer and cook until it reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. I need to work this out before using this on any cooking competition, as I found that the thigh meat was undercooked while the breast meat was fine.

Enjoy!