Winter’s got a man down. The cold is keeping me inside, I’m gettin’ no sun, and I’m borderline depressed. February is always the toughest even though Spring is only weeks away. The only way I know to get though the trough of winter is by filling my entire house with the smell of robust comfort food. And nothing exemplifies comfort food better than roast chicken.
If I have the time, I like to break down a bird into quarters, and pan sear it skin side down to achieve a deeply browned skin. Finishing skin side up in a convection oven keeps things crisp and frees up burners, while cooking my bird with an even and dry heat. While the chicken rests (uncovered — tenting with foil will wilt that delightfully crunchy skin) I’ll whip up a pan sauce using a quick stock and whatever aromatics I have on hand. Pan sauces capture everything that was left in the bottom of a pan and create a luxurious blanket that keeps my bird bird warm, and my stomach content.
That said I don’t always have hours to spend on a fussy preparation. Sometimes I want to throw a chicken in the oven after work and forget about it, or serve more than four guests without managing multiple pans. That’s when I turn to Michel Richard’s roast chicken with lemon and garlic. It’s simple, requires little work, and uses a two temperature approach to produce a bird bird with a crispy exterior, that’s still moist inside. And then there’s the onion sauce, and roasted garlic that require no additional work… It’s perfect.
Three Little Birds
Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken
Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
1 4-lbs free range chicken
2 lemons cut in half
1 branch fresh thyme
2 onions, sliced
20 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 tablespoons olive oil
½ lemon, additional
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Remove the inside package from the chicken. Wash the chicken and dry it with a paper towel. Place the lemon halves and thyme inside the cavity and season the chicken with salt & pepper.
Cover the bottom of a Pyrex dish or oven roaster the onion slices, and garlic cloves. Place the chicken in the dish, and sprinkle the chicken with the olive oil.
Cook in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour, remove the chicken from the oven. Turn up the temperature in the oven to 450⁰. When the oven has reached temperature, return the chicken to the oven and cook until it has become golden and crispy.
Before serving, remove the lemon halves from the cavity, and add the juice of the additional ½ lemon over the chicken. Sprinkle with the parsley.
To serve. Transfer the onion, garlic, and liquid from the chicken, to a frying pan, and bring to a boil. Add ½ cup of water to the pan, mix well, and bring to a boil. Serve as a sauce with the chicken. Bon appétit!
