ROAST CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES

SOURCE: MARION CUNNINGHAM. LEARNING TO COOK WITH MARION CUNNINGHAM.

Marion Cunningham’s recipe for roast chicken is basic at its very core, designed to break down any fearful reservations of the novice cook or free a busy cook from spending too much effort and focus on it. Within a span of an hour inside a preheated oven, the chicken ends up golden, moist, savory, and all ready to eat.

Ingredients

8 medium-sized carrots

2 medium-sized yellow onions

8 medium-sized potatoes

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

4 sprigs rosemary, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1 whole chicken, weighing about 3 1/2 pounds/1.6 kg

Specific Equipment

Peeler

Knife

9 1/2-inch/24-cm × 13-inch/33-cm baking pan OR roasting pan

OPTIONAL: Dial-type meat thermometer

Large spoon

Paring knife

Carving board

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C.

2. Peel the carrots and cut them crosswise into 1 1/2-inch-/3.81-cm-long pieces. Cut the thicker pieces in half lengthwise. Peel the onions and cut them into quarters. Wash the potatoes with cold running water, getting rid of any dirt from the skin, and cut the potatoes into quarters.

3. Scatter the carrots, onions, and potatoes on the bottom of the baking pan or roasting pan. Sprinkle in1 1/2 teaspoons/9 grams and 1/2 teaspoon/1 gram black pepper over the vegetables. Cut the 2 sprigs of rosemary to small segments and lay them on top of the vegetables.

4. Remove the heart, gizzard, and liver from the cavity of the chicken, if any. Pull out or cut off the pale yellow chunk of fat found on either side of the cavity and discard.

5. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, rubbing them all over the skin and the cavity. Cut 1 sprig of rosemary into half. Slide your fingers gently between the breast skin and meat and stuff in each half sprig of rosemary. Fold the wings akimbo.

6. Lay the chicken, breast side up, over the vegetables. Insert a dial-type meat thermometer into the breast of the chicken, if desired, making sure that the rod does not touch any bones.

7. Place the baking pan or roasting pan in the center of the oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn over the surrounding vegetables with a large spoon. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and prick one of the chicken thighs with the tip of a paring knife to test for doneness. The chicken is done if the juices run clear and the meat thermometer registers at 170 to 180°F/77° to 80°C. Otherwise, return the pan to the oven and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes.

8. Transfer the chicken onto a carving board to rest in the juices for 10 minutes. Scoop the vegetables out of the baking pan or roasting pan and onto a serving platter. Spoon out the fat from the roasting juices. Cut the chicken into serving pieces and arrange them on top of the vegetables. Spoon over the pan juices and scatter the rosemary sprigs on top.