Weeknight Roast Chicken
- Yield 4 servings
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 1 hour
- Total 1 hour 15 minutes
Weeknight Roast Chicken sits in the Chicken section of Regbie. The card serves 4 servings. Plan on 1 hour 15 minutes from the first measure to the plate. The amounts and the method are both written on this page.
Ingredients
Yield: 4 servings
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 3½- to 4-pound whole chicken, giblets discarded
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or cold ghee for folks doing a Whole30
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Position your oven rack in the middle position, place a 12-inch oven-safe skillet on it, shut the oven door, and crank the heat up to 450°F.
Stir together the salt and pepper in a small bowl, and grab the melted ghee.
Blot the chicken dry with paper towels. Pull off any extra fat around the open cavity, and trim away any extraneous skin.
Coat the entire surface of the bird with melted ghee. If your chicken is still cold from sitting in the refrigerator, the ghee may clump up a bit upon contact with the bird, but that’s no biggie.
Scatter the salt and pepper mixture all over the surface and interior of the bird. Then, massage in the seasoning with your hands.
Tuck the chicken wings behind the back to keep ’em from burning in the oven, and tie the legs together with a piece of kitchen twine.
Set your bird breast-side up in the hot skillet in the oven. Remember that your skillet’s hot—don’t burn your hand.
Bake the chicken until the breast registers 120°F and thighs are 135°F, about 25 to 35 minutes. (If you haven’t already invested in a meat thermometer , It is worth that you do it. It’s a great insurance policy against ruined dinners.)
Immediately turn off the oven, leaving the chicken inside until the breast reaches 160°F and thighs are 175°F, about 25 to 35 more minutes. Again, use your meat thermometer to check your bird for readiness.
Lift the chicken from the pan and rest it for 20 minutes.
While the chicken’s resting, whip up a quick pan sauce! Lift all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet. Leave the extra jus and brown bits in the pan. Then, heat the contents of the skillet over a medium-high burner. Once the liquid starts bubbling, throw in the shallots. Leave the shallots until softened.
Then, pour in the broth and the mustard, scraping up any tasty browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Gently bubble until reduced to ¾ cup.
When the sauce is ready, remove it from the heat. Grab the chilled butter or ghee (use the latter if you’re on a Whole30!), and slowly whisk it into the sauce along with the lemon juice and minced tarragon. Salt with salt and pepper to taste. Plate the chicken with the sauce!
Kitchen notes
- The cook used to use a pair of tongs to move roast chicken from pan to plate, but found that the teeth of the cook tongs would tear the beautifully crisp, golden skin.
- The solution?
- The cook now insert the handle-end of a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula into the bird’s cavity to lift it up and out—and to pour off out any excess juices from the inside of the chicken.
