Best Chez Louis Roast Chicken Recipes

JUICY ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
• Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

JUICY ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Remove the neck and giblet package from the chicken and pull off the flap of fat if there is one. Rub hen inside and out with salt. Place the chicken in a pot that is just large enough to hold it and tall enough to completely cover it with water. Add cold water just to cover the chicken and stir briefly. Place in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Remove the bird and rinse for several minutes under cold running water to remove all salt inside and out.
• While the chicken is in the refrigerator, make a simple stock by simmering the neck, giblets (no liver), 1 onion quartered, 1 leaf end of celery, 2 sage leaves, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 quart water in a large saucepan over low heat for 1 to 2 hours. Strain and save the stock. Pull the meat from neck and add to the stock. Cut up the giblets and add to the stock.
• Preheat the oven 475 degrees.
• Arrange a V-rack for holding the bird over a pan to catch juices. Pour 1 1/2 cups of the stock into the pan, reserve the rest. Place the remaining onion, leaf ends of celery, sage leaves, and thyme sprigs, plus the orange and bay leaf, in the chicken cavity.
• In a small bowl, stir together corn syrup and butter. Brush the chicken lightly with this mixture and place in a V-rack, breast side down. Roast 20 minutes, basting with drippings in pan every 7 minutes. Remove the chicken from oven and turn so that one leg and thigh are up. Baste with the butter mixture and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven again, turn completely over so that the other leg is up, baste well with the butter mixture, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven again and turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Leave the oven door partially open so oven temperature will come down quickly. Turn the bird breast side up, brush well with butter mixture and return to the oven. Baste every 5 minutes. In 5 minutes, check breast meat temperature using an instant-read thermometer. The ideal temperature to remove it is 150 degrees to 154 degrees. If necessary, place back in oven an additional 5 to 10 minutes until it reaches this temperature. Breast meat temperature rises about 2 degrees every minute in the oven at this temperature.
• Add as much of the pan drippings to the remaining stock as you can without getting the sauce too salty. Stir cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water and stir it into the stock-drippings mixture in a large saucepan. Heat over medium meat, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.
• Allow chicken to stand at least 15 minutes after removing from the oven. Carve or partially carve the chicken and arrange back in bird form on the serving platter. Pass hot gravy in a separate bowl.

ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Place the chicken in a 12- or 14-inch cast-iron pan, breast-side up. Top with 2 tablespoons butter and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken, 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and carefully shake it to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Return to the oven to roast, 20 more minutes. Baste the chicken and continue to roast, basting every 5 minutes, for 30 minutes. Add the carrots, garlic and onions and continue to roast until the chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh (avoiding bone) reads 155 degrees F, about 20 minutes more.
• Place the chicken on a cutting board with the vegetables. Skim the fat from the pan, leaving about 2 tablespoons. Place the pan over a burner and add the flour. Cook until browned, then add the wine. Scrape out all the pan juices and the wine-flour mixture into a small saucepan. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the cream and remaining 2 tablespoons butter, whisking. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the meat off the bird and add the cooking juices to the gravy. Place the sliced meat on a platter and sauce with the gravy. Garnish with the vegetables.