Roast chicken for les paresseux
A deal on whole chickens ($3 each) led me to search for new methods for roasting a chicken. It also allowed me to try out a new recipe book (new from Christmas) that we hadn't yet delved into, Around my French Table. Les paresseux is French for "lazy people", so this particular variation of roast chicken is supposed to be easy and fuss-free for those who aren't feeling like putting in a lot of effort to their baked chicken. This recipe book has wonderful little stories and suggestions, including for this recipe, putting the chicken's liver back in to the cavity when baking (and then taking it out and having it on bread). Brilliant! A must try.
Recipe
from Around My French TableServes 41 thick slice bread or 2 slices baguette1 chicken, 4-1/2 to 5 lbs (reserve the liver if it came with the chicken), at room temperaturesalt and freshly ground pepper2 sprigs each rosemary, thyme, oregano1 garlic head, cut horizontally in half, unpeeledabout 2/3 cup dry white wine or water (optional)baby potatoescarrots, trimmed and peeledPreheat the oven to 450 F with a rack in the center of the oven. Rub the inside of a Dutch oven or large high-sided casserole with oil and place bread in the center of the pot. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Put the liver, if you've got it, inside the chicken and toss in a half sprig of each of the herbs as well as one half of the garlic. Put the chicken in the pot, resting it on the bread. Put the other garlic half in the pot along with the remaining herbs and pour in a few tbsp each of oil and wine or water if you're using it. Slide the pot into the oven.If you'd like to roast veggies with the chicken, wait until the chicken has roasted for 45 minutes. Then scatter the potatoes and carrots around the chicken. Roast the chicken undisturbed for about 45 minutes more, a total of around 90 minutes, or until the skin is crackly and crisp and the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh. If feeling lazy, you can let the chicken rest in the pot for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. If you've got more initiative, to get the juices back into the breast meat, put a cereal bowl at one end of a large platter and transfer the chicken, breast side down to the platter. Let it rest under a foil tent, tail leaning on the bowl and pointing up for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. For gravy, spoon out the vegetables and remove the bread, before deglazing the pot with wine or water and reducing it down.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: David, unsurprisingly, put a whole garlic head in the cavity of the chicken as well as a whole to roast in the pan. He also used chicken stock in the pan instead of wine.Perhaps the best idea in the world ever was actually including the liver in the cavity while its baking and then taking it out and eating it. The liver was absolutely divine! The recipe had actually recommended spreading the liver over the chicken-juice-soaked bread that had sat below the chicken. The bread was a bit soggy from sitting in the stock, but he threw it back in the oven to toast for a bit. The bread was fabulously tasty with the liver on top. The actual chicken itself was also delicious--moist and flavourful. A solid roast chicken all around. And it was, indeed, relatively straightforward to make for us les parasseux.