LEMONY TWIST TIRAMISULEMON CURD:5 egg yolks1 c. sugar½ c. fresh lemon juicePinch kosher salt6 T…
Julia Child’s Favorite Roast Chicken
JULIA CHILD’S FAVORITE ROAST CHICKEN
2 ½ T. unsalted butter
1/3 c. finely diced carrots
1/3 c. finely diced onions
1/3 c. finely diced celery
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 (3 ½-4 lb.) chicken
Salt, fresh black pepper
Parsley stems
Celery leaves
6 (1/8” thick slices of lemons)
½ c. sliced onion
½ c. sliced carrots
1 T. fresh lemon juice
¾ c. chicken stock or broth
- Preheat oven 425. Melt 1 T. butter in skillet. Add diced carrots, onion and celery and cook until softened. Stir in herbs.
- Wash chicken rapidly inside and out with hot water and pat thoroughly dry.
- For easier carving, cut out and discard wishbone (or have butcher do it). Pull the neck skin up over the breast and secure it to the back with a toothpick.
- Salt and pepper the cavity and spoon in the cooked veggies, a handful of parsley and celery stems and leaves and the lemon slices.
- Massage the chicken all over with the 1 T. butter, then truss it. Alternatively, tie the ends of the drumsticks together and tuck the wings under the body.
- Choose an oven proof roasting pan that is about 1” larger than the chicken.
- Salt the chicken all over and set it breast up on a rack in the pan.
- Roast chicken in oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes as follows:
-At 15 minutes, brush chicken with remaining ½ T. of butter. Scatter the sliced onion and carrot all around. Reduce oven to 350.
-At 45 minutes, brush lemon juice over the chicken. If necessary, add ½ c. of water to veggies to prevent burning.
-At 60 minutes, baste with the pan juices. Test for doneness: the drumsticks should move easily in their sockets; their flesh should feel somewhat soft. If not, continue roasting, basting and testing every 6-8 minutes, until an instant read thermometer registers 165. - Spear chicken through the shoulders; lift to drain; if the last of the juices run clear yellow, the chicken is done. Let rest on carving board for 15 minutes, discard string.
- Spoon all but 1 T. of fat from the juices in the pan. Add the stock and boil until lightly syrupy, 5 minutes. Strain, you will have just enough to bathe each serving with a fragrant spoonful.