The real secret to Old-Style Roast Chicken is you don’t need a motorized roaster or a high-end barbecue to roast a perfect chicken. You don’t even need to work hard. All you need is fresh ingredients and some patience.
Ingredients:
– 1 organic chicken
– 1/4 cup coarse salt
– 2 tablespoons corn syrup, golden syrup or honey
– 1/4 pound butter (room temperature)
– fresh sage leaves (about 6-8)
– pepper and salt
– root vegetables, onion, garlic, celery stem
– bay leaf, a choice of spices (clove, paprika, etc)
Preparation:
Half-fill a large pan or bowl with cold water. Add the coarse salt and syrup/honey and stir until is dissolves. You may want to pre-dissolve the syrup in a glass of warm water. Add the whole chicken. Add some water to cover it, if necessary. Let the chicken soak for 2 hours on your kitchen counter. (The soaking phase ensures that the chicken’s meat won’t dry up during cooking.)
Pre-heat the oven to 425-450 degrees Fahrenheit (depends on your oven). Drain the water and let the chicken dry for a few minutes. Pat it dry with a towel. Using a sharp knife, remove the excess fat around the neck and at the back of the chicken. You may also slit the drumstick near the end, to help the fat out during roasting.
Using the knife, puncture a few holes through the skin, near the edges of the breasts. Carefully insert sage leaves underneath the skin, over the breasts, using a spoon handle or a butter knife to help. Grind some black pepper and salt over the whole chicken. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Once the chicken has warmed a little bit, rub it with the butter (you can also melt the butter and use a kitchen brush). If the chicken is too cold or its skin is too moist, the butter won’t hold. Keep the excess butter for later use.
Place the root vegetables, onion, garlic, bay leave, and spices in a roasting pan (or in a large lasagna dish). Add 1 inch of water and a pinch of sugar. Install a wire grill over the dish, and the chicken (breast down) over the wire grill.
Roast the chicken for 1 hour. No need to baste. Some of the chicken juice and grease will drop onto the vegetables, giving them a rich flavor.
Then, turn the chicken around, so that the breast is facing up. Rub it with more butter, add salt and pepper, and roast it for 1h30 or until the skin is crisp and has a golden color (you may want to check the doneness with a meat probe). If the vegetables dry up, pour a glass of water in the pan to avoid sticking and burning.
Drain the vegetables and remove the celery stem, bay leaf and any visible spices (clove, pepper corns, etc). Serve the vegetables in a serving dish, and the broth in a saucer. You can also reheat the broth and then whisk it with some butter and flour to make a gravy of the drippings. Serve the gravy as an accompaniment to the Old-Style Roast Chicken.