I use the same technique for broiling a chicken as I do for roasting it whole. I make a tasty mix of shallots, garlic, lemon rind, and herbs moistened with olive oil and rub that under the skin of the chicken at least an hour before cooking. The advantage of broiling is that it’s quicker, particularly if you do the preliminary under-the-skin stuffing in the morning. Then, when you get home, you have only to put the accompanying vegetables on a baking tray along with the chicken and you’ll have a full dinner ready in 30 minutes with lots of good left-over chicken to play with during the week. You can, of course, just get half a chicken (leg/thigh/breast piece) and have only a little left over, but I find the birds for roasting are apt to be plumper and more flavorful, particularly if you get an organic, decently raised chicken. And I like to have the gizzards, neck, and backbone for stock, and the liver for my own treat (see page 100).
Ingredients
For the Herbal Undercoating
Accompanying Vegetables
Preparation
Step 1
Rinse the chicken and pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Chop the garlic clove, then sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and mash the two together with the flat side of your large knife until you have a paste. Chop the shallot, scallion, lemon peel, parsley, and tarragon, and mix in with the garlic; then mince all together with the olive oil. Add pepper generously.
Step 2
At least 1 hour before cooking, or the morning of the evening you plan to cook, prepare the chicken. I like to cut out the backbone and save it for stock, as well as trim the wing tips. But instead, you can simply cut the chicken in half, slicing down firmly along the center of the breastbone, using poultry shears (if you have them) to cut through the bone. Or buy the chicken already cut in two pieces. Loosen the skin from the breast and thighs and legs of the chicken, and spread equal amounts of undercoating under the skin on both halves of the chicken, using your fingers to push it down onto the legs and thighs. Rub a little oil onto the nonskin side, and season all over with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
Step 3
Preheat the broiler.
Step 4
Peel the carrot and parsnip, and cut in half lengthwise; cut the shallots in half, and the potatoes in thirds. Spread the pieces on a roasting pan; or simply line a pan sheet with Silpat, rub a little olive oil on, and roll the vegetables in that. Salt lightly. Place the chicken halves, skin side down, in the center, with the vegetables around, and set on a rack about 6 inches under the broiler. Watch the vegetables and turn them now and then, tucking under the chicken any pieces that start to char. Baste after 5 minutes with a little olive oil. After 20 minutes, turn the chicken and broil the other side, basting this time with the pan juices. It will need another 15 minutes on this side. Remove some of the vegetables if they are cooking too much, and keep warm. The chicken should be done in 35 minutes, but you should check by pricking deeply into where the thigh attaches to the breast to make sure the juices run clear. If you have an instant-read thermometer, plunge it into that area; the temperature should be about 165°. Let rest for 5 minutes before giving yourself a handsome serving of either leg-thigh or breast, along with any pan juice and the roasted vegetables.
Roast Rock Cornish Hen
Step 5
You can broil or roast a hen in the same way, first rubbing the undercoating under the skin. A 2-pounder, which is what you usually find in the supermarket today, will take about 30 minutes to cook. Recently I discovered that Bell & Evans was offering a small 1-pounder—the way Cornish hens used to be. It took less than 25 minutes to cook and was delicious. Use proportionately less herbal undercoating for the smaller birds.
Whole Roast Chicken
Step 6
Stuff it under the skin the same way as described for the Broiled Chicken, and rub a little salt and olive oil over it. There’s no need to truss the bird. Put it in a roasting pan, breast side down, and roast in a preheated 375° oven for 45 minutes, basting once or twice, then turn the bird so it is breast side up, and roast another 30 minutes, basting a few times. Check for doneness as described on page 15. Let rest for 5 minutes before carving.
Second and Third Rounds—and More
Step 7
Cold chicken is always good to have around for sandwiches and salads. But here are two of my favorite old-fashioned recipes that make use of leftover chicken in particularly pleasing ways. If you’re looking for more ideas, see “The Nine Lives of a Turkey” (box, pages 22–23). What you can do with turkey almost always applies to chicken, too.
