Tag: trussed

I have blogged about roast chicken before but I suppose some things can stand repetition.

A good roast chicken is a test of a good cook – it’s simplicity can stump some, but if you master roasting a chicken well – then the sky is the limit as far as the flavors of your dish.

Try to get the best chicken you can – free range from a butcher is great.

To truss or not to truss?

I will be honest, if the chicken comes trussed, I will leave it as it or else I won’t bother doing it myself.

There are arguments for both:

• a trussed chicken holds its shape and looks good in presentation

but

• an untrussed chicken browns more evenly.

I leave the choice up to you.

I like to put my chicken on a bed of vegetables, which allows them to cook at the same time as the chicken, get flavored by the chicken juices and I like to believe the chicken benefits in flavor by sitting on the vegetables too.

In this case I used potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and sweet peppers flavored with salt pepper and thyme.

You can use almost any vegetable you like.

And oh yes, I had asparagus which I put on top around the chicken so I could pull them off soon, so as to not over cook them.

 

I also had some mushrooms which I sauteed in a pan because I love caramelized mushrooms.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place the chicken with the vegetables for about 30 minutes.

I like to add a cup of water in the bottom with the vegetables which prevents burning and also creates a nice sauce.

Lower the temperature to 350 and cook another 15 to 20 minutes or more – or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Let the chicken rest, for at least 15 minutes.

Sometimes I removes the chicken and add some mustard and wine to fortify the sauce.

Here is the cooked chicken and an addition of a general tbs. of dijon mustard.

Stir the mustard in and add a cup of wine and cook on open flame to evaporate the alcohol.

Taste for seasoning and season the chicken over the vegetables and drizzle the sauce over it.

Here is the finished dish – I did drizzle it with a little truffle oil.

Until I cook again!