The Best Roast Chicken with Garlic and Herb Pan Sauce

By hab_berkeley

Ingredients

• One 3 to 4 pound chicken, preferably organic or free-range, brought to room temperature
• Kosher salt (and pepper if you'd like)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 large sprigs of thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1/4 cup white wine

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from food52.com

Preparation

Step 1

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Adapted from Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil by Kim Foster.

Heat the oven to 480 degrees F. Pat the chicken dry inside and out (if you want an extra crispy skin, leave the raw chicken in the fridge uncovered overnight after you've patted it dry and then bring it to room temperature).

Transfer the chicken to a cast iron pan or a heavy roasting pan just big enough to hold it and put it in the oven. Don't open the door for at least 45 minutes, when you can start to test it for doneness. (The chicken is cooked when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a sharp knife, and the juices run clear.) Let the chicken rest on a carving board while you make the pan sauce.

To make the sauce, put the roasting pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the drippings in the pan, and once it melts add the thyme and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for about a minute.

Add the wine to the pan and scrape up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon, stirring them into the sauce. Let the wine cook down for one to two minutes.

Add a cup of boiling water, stir well, and let the sauce reduce for about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary (if you've salted your chicken enough, this probably won't be necessary).

Time to Make Dinner

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Any way to keep most of the fat out of the sauce? There's always a lot of fat left in the roasting pan. How about pouring it off first and just working with the brown bits, wine & water? Would that work?

I've done Keller's method, and you MUST start with an impeccably clean oven. We do ours in the gas grill (has thermometer and lid) Instead. It really cuts down on the mess in the oven and heat in the house

The water works very well, but you could use broth too -- just make sure it's unsalted!

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