Roast Chicken: Thanks, Thomas Keller!

Pin It At the risk of this blog being called 101 Ways to Make Chicken, I will write about a foolproof roast chicken a la Thomas Keller.  This was another favorite segment from the Basics of Cooking episode of No Reservations.  Thomas Keller shows us how to make the perfect simple roast chicken that can be taken into any direction by any type of sauce, gravy or side dish. I made this on Sunday night with roasted asparagus and potatoes.  I prepared the asparagus by simply tossing in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper.  On Tuesday, I heated up the leftovers and served it with Mae Ploy sweet chilli sauce.  For my sides, we had rice and it's still roasted asparagus but this time I tossed it in soy sauce and sesame oil, seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.  So with a few twists and turns, the same chicken went from West to East.

Some of the helpful things that I learned from the video is the importance of the room temperature chicken.  I ignored this once and took a much longer time for the chicken to cook. That would be the last time I ignore a real chef's instructions!  Also, removing the wishbone really does make it so much easier to cut off the entire half of the chicken from the carcass.  It took me three tries to be able to remove the entire collar bone without breaking it.  But I still cannot truss a bird if my life depended on it.  I've trussed several birds in the past few years, but it's never the same every time. I just can't get it right!

The crispy skin crackles!

For my version, I sprinkled dried rosemary on top and inside the chicken. Because my chicken was over 5 pounds, I had to roast the chicken in a 425-degree oven for about an hour and a half. 

Gravy

Spray the bottom with cooking spray before putting the chicken onto the roaster.  Place the giblets at the bottom of the roaster, leveling them to make sure they don't touch the bottom of the rack where the chicken will rest.  This will prevent them from burning and sticking to the roasting rack. Roast chicken and giblets.

When chicken is done, remove roasting rack and giblets from the roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan on stove top.  If there are not enough drippings, deglaze the roasting pan with either white wine or low sodium chicken stock.  Add butter (or butter substitute), a little bit of flour to thicken.  Season with salt and pepper  as needed.  I use relatively more pepper than salt for the gravy. Delicious and simple.