Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (155 page)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Roasting some vegetables alongside a chicken should make for an easy one-dish meal. But getting both components to cook just right is a challenge, and most recipes focus on the chicken at the expense of the vegetables, which wind up greasy, with a mushy consistency. To our surprise, the best way to infuse the vegetables with great chicken flavor was to cook them separately. We added some broth to the pan partway through roasting the chicken (to prevent the fond from burning), then while the chicken was resting we prepared the vegetables. We simply tossed them with oil, salt, and pepper and placed them in the oven to roast. We then drizzled some of the reserved broth over the vegetables to infuse them with chicken flavor and put them under the broiler to allow the liquid to reduce to a glaze that coated the vegetables.
SERVES 4 TO 6
If using kosher chicken, do not brine in step 1, and season with salt as well as pepper in step 2. If using a nonstick roasting pan, refrain from turning up the oven to broil when cooking the vegetables and stir them every 5 to 7 minutes to ensure they don’t become too dark. If your broiler does not accommodate a roasting pan, continue to cook the vegetables at 500 degrees until done. We prefer to use small red potatoes in this recipe. Use potatoes that are 1¹⁄
2
to 2-inches in diameter; larger potatoes should be cut into halves or quarters. You can substitute the following seasonal vegetables for any of those in the recipe: beets, celery root, fennel, rutabagas, and turnips; peel these vegetables (except for the fennel) and cut them into 2- to 3-inch pieces.
CHICKEN
¹⁄ | cup salt |
¹⁄ | cup sugar |
2 | garlic heads, cloves separated and lightly crushed |
6 | bay leaves, crumbled |
1 | (6- to 7-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded |
Pepper | |
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed |
VEGETABLES
1 | pound small red potatoes |
1 | pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2- to 3-inch lengths, tapered ends left whole, large upper portions halved lengthwise |
8 | ounces parsnips, peeled and cut into 2- to 3-inch lengths, tapered ends left whole, large upper portions halved lengthwise |
3 | small onions, peeled, root end left intact, and quartered |
3 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
1. FOR THE CHICKEN:
Dissolve salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in large container; stir in garlic and bay leaves. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels.
2.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Set V-rack in roasting pan and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Tuck chicken wings behind back and season chicken with pepper. Place chicken wing side up on prepared V-rack and roast for 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and, using 2 large wads of paper towels, rotate chicken so that other wing side faces up; continue to roast for 30 minutes.
3.
Remove pan from oven and, using 2 large wads of paper towels, turn chicken breast side up. Add broth to pan and continue to roast until chicken is golden brown, breast registers 160 degrees, and thighs register 175 degrees, about 40 minutes. (If pan begins to smoke and sizzle, add additional ¹⁄
2
cup broth to pan.) Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest while roasting vegetables. Remove V-rack from pan.
4. FOR THE VEGETABLES:
While chicken is resting, adjust oven rack to middle position and increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Using wooden spoon, scrape browned bits in pan and pour drippings into fat separator. Return now-empty pan to oven and heat until oven reaches 500 degrees, about 5 minutes.
5.
Toss potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and onions with oil, salt, and pepper and scatter in single layer in pan, arranging potatoes and onions cut side down. Roast, without stirring, for 25 minutes.
6.
While vegetables are roasting, measure out and reserve ¹⁄
2
cup liquid from fat separator; discard remaining liquid and fat (if necessary, add additional broth to make ¹⁄
2
cup). Remove pan from oven and heat broiler. Drizzle liquid over vegetables and broil, without stirring, for 5 minutes. Stir vegetables, coating well with juices, and continue to broil until tender and deep golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to serving platter. While vegetables are broiling, carve chicken. Transfer to platter with vegetables and serve.
Substitute two 3- to 4-pound chickens for one 6- to 7-pound chicken. Reduce wing-side-up roasting time to 20 minutes per side in step 2. Continue to roast chicken as directed, reducing breast-side-up roasting time to 30 to 40 minutes.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Roast chicken infused with garlic and rosemary is a Tuscan classic, but the flavors can be overly aggressive. We wanted to harness the flavors of garlic and rosemary and unite them with a perfectly roasted chicken. Adding crushed garlic and rosemary to our brine was the first step toward subtly infusing the chicken with flavor. Rubbing a paste of olive oil, rosemary, and raw minced garlic under the skin of the breast and thighs was next for a pleasantly punchy bite. Finally, we created a sauce, using the pan drippings as the flavor base and adding wine, broth, rosemary, and mashed roasted garlic for a sweet, nutty finish.
SERVES 3 TO 4
If using kosher chicken, do not brine in step 1.
CHICKEN
Salt and pepper | |
12 | garlic cloves, peeled, 10 cloves lightly crushed and 2 cloves minced |
3 | sprigs fresh rosemary plus 2 teaspoons minced |
1 | (3¹⁄ |
2 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
JUS
10 | large garlic cloves, unpeeled |
¹⁄ | teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil |
1³⁄ | cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed |
¹⁄ | cup water, plus extra as needed |
¹⁄ | cup dry white wine or dry vermouth |
1 | sprig fresh rosemary |
Salt and pepper |
1. FOR THE CHICKEN:
Dissolve ¹⁄
2
cup salt in 2 cups hot water in large container; stir in crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in 1¹⁄
2
quarts cold water. Submerge chicken in brine, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set V-rack in roasting pan and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, minced garlic, minced rosemary, ¹⁄
4
teaspoon pepper, and ¹⁄
8
teaspoon salt in bowl.
3.
Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Rub generous 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons garlic paste in cavity of chicken. Use your fingers to gently loosen center portion of skin covering each side of breast; place half of remaining paste under skin, directly on meat in center of each side of breast. Gently press on skin to distribute paste over meat. Tie ends of drumsticks together with kitchen twine and tuck wings behind back. Rub skin with 2 teaspoons oil and season with pepper. Set chicken breast side down on prepared V-rack and roast 15 minutes.
4. FOR THE JUS:
While chicken is roasting, toss garlic with oil; after chicken has roasted for 15 minutes, scatter cloves in pan and continue to roast for 15 minutes longer.
5.
Remove pan from oven; decrease oven temperature to 375 degrees. Using 2 large wads of paper towels, rotate chicken breast side up; brush breast with remaining 1 teaspoon oil. Place 1 cup broth and water in bottom of pan and continue to roast until chicken is light golden brown, breast registers 160 degrees, and thighs register 175 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes. (If pan begins to smoke and sizzle, add additional ¹⁄
2
cup broth to pan.) Remove pan from oven; tip V-rack to let juices from chicken cavity run into pan. Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest while making jus. Remove V-rack from pan.
6.
Remove garlic cloves from pan with slotted spoon and transfer to cutting board. Using wooden spoon, scrape up browned bits in pan and pour drippings into 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Allow drippings to settle; meanwhile, peel garlic and mash to paste with fork. Remove fat from surface of drippings using spoon (you should have about ²⁄
3
cup skimmed liquid; if not, add additional water). Transfer liquid to small saucepan and stir in wine, rosemary sprig, remaining ³⁄
4
cup broth, and garlic paste. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced to 1 cup, about 8 minutes. Discard rosemary sprig. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Carve chicken, adding any accumulated juices to jus. Serve, passing jus separately
We prefer to use medium red potatoes, measuring about 2 inches in diameter, in this recipe.
Omit all jus ingredients except garlic. During first 15 minutes of roasting, toss 1¹⁄
2
pounds medium red potatoes, quartered, and garlic with 4¹⁄
2
teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, ¹⁄
4
teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon pepper in bowl. After chicken has roasted for 15 minutes, scatter potatoes and garlic in single layer in pan; roast for another 15 minutes. Continue with recipe from step 5 as directed, omitting the addition of liquid to pan and stirring potatoes after rotating the chicken; when chicken is done, do not tip V-rack with roast chicken to allow juices to run into pan. While chicken rests, transfer potatoes and garlic to large paper towel–lined plate and pat with additional paper towels. Carve chicken and serve with potatoes and garlic.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Glazed roast chicken sounds simple but actually presents a host of troubles, as the problems inherent in roasting chicken (dry breast meat, flabby skin, big deposits of fat under the skin) are compounded by the glaze (won’t stick to the meat, burns in patches, introduces moisture to already flabby skin). For our roast chicken, we wanted an evenly glazed chicken with crisp skin and moist meat. To dehydrate the skin and make it crisp, we separated it from the meat and poked holes in the fat deposits to allow rendered fat to escape, then rubbed the skin with salt and baking powder before vertically roasting the chicken—a technique usually associated with the grill. We found that resting the roasted bird before blasting it with higher heat resulted in the kind of burnished skin we were looking for, especially after we thickened the glaze with cornstarch to help it adhere to the bird.
