Simple Roast Chicken With Chestnut Breading Food

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Thoroughly wash and dry the chickens. Season the inside and outside of both birds with salt and pepper.
• In a large skillet, heat 4 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add chestnuts and bay leaves and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown. Add shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook 3 minutes. Add sherry and 2 tablespoons thyme, and cook until sherry is reduced to a glaze, about 4 minutes. Cool.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons of thyme, coriander, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Working carefully, separate the skin from the meat of the breasts and the thighs and rub spice mixture in between.
• Divide chestnut mixture evenly and use it to stuff the cavities of the chickens. Tie the legs together to hold the stuffing in place.
• Set the chickens on a nonstick roasting rack in a roasting pan, breast side down, and roast for 20 minutes. Turn the chickens breast side up, baste with pan juices, and roast 40 minutes more, basting every 15 minutes until an instant-read thermometer inserted at the joint between the thigh and leg reaches 165 degrees. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Let cool for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, tilt the roasting pan and skim off and discard any fat. Add orange juice to the roasting pan, set the pan over a low flame, and scrape off any browned bits stuck to the pan.
• To serve, spoon the chestnuts out of the birds and into a bowl. Cut each chicken into 8 pieces (2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 breast halves, 2 wings) and pour the pan juices over chicken.

SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN WITH GRAVY

Steps:

• Pat the chicken dry inside and out with paper towels, and let sit at room temperature to take the chill off, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 450 degrees F. Put a rack in a small roasting pan.
• Season the cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper, and stuff it with the thyme and garlic. Tie the legs together with butcher's twine. Season the outside with salt (generously) and a few grinds of pepper, and place the chicken breast-side up on the rack. (Seasoning the chicken when on the rack could result in gravy that's too salty.)
• Roast the chicken until the skin is golden brown and crispy and a thermometer inserted in the deepest part of the thigh registers 165 to 170 degrees F, depending on how you like your dark meat, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let the chicken rest on the rack for a few minutes, then carefully tip it forward to drain all the collected juices into the roasting pan. Discard the thyme and garlic. Let the chicken rest on a cutting board while you make the gravy. (To transfer the chicken easily, hold a wooden spoon handle in the cavity with one hand and use the other hand to lift the chicken with tongs.)
• Remove the rack from the pan, and pour the pan drippings into a small bowl. Skim off 2 tablespoons of the fat, and stir them into the flour and 2 tablespoons water in another small bowl. Heat the roasting pan over medium-high heat, add the wine, scrape up any browned bits and simmer until the wine reduces by half, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and any remaining pan drippings, bring to a simmer, add the flour mixture and whisk constantly until the liquid thickens into a gravy, 2 to 3 minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper.
• Remove the butcher's twine from the chicken. Snip off the wingtips using kitchen shears; reserve to make stock. Remove the leg quarters by slicing between the thigh and the body, then finding the hip joints near the backbone and slicing through them. Separate the drumsticks and thighs, and transfer to a platter. Sit the carcass upright; snip out the backbone and reserve it to make stock. Lay the breast skin-side up and slice in half through the breastbone. Separate the wings and breast, and transfer to the platter. Serve the chicken with the warm gravy. Reserve the carcass to make stock.

REALLY EASY ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• KIDS: The writing in bold is for you. ADULTS: The rest is for you. Cut the string off the chicken. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Get your child to use a pair of scissors to cut the elastic or string holding the chicken together.
• Stuff the chicken. Stuff the lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken with the garlic and herb sprig (if using).
• Time to get your hands mucky. Sit the chicken in a large roasting tin and use your hands to smear the butter all over it.
• Easy-peasy vegetables. Tip the carrots and potatoes into a large bowl, drizzle over the oil and toss everything together with your hands.
• Scatter the vegetables around the chicken. Scatter the vegetables in an even layer around the chicken, then season everything. Put the chicken in the oven and roast for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and give the vegetables a stir, reduce the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then return to the oven for 50 mins more.
• Test if the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the oven. Using a cloth, pull the leg - if it easily comes away from the body, there is no sign of pink and the juices run clear, the chicken is cooked. If you have a digital cooking thermometer, it should read above 70C. Take the chicken out of the tin.
• Make a lemony sauce. Scoop the vegetables into a serving dish. Using a spoon or a pair of tongs, remove the garlic, lemon and herbs from the chicken and put them in the roasting tin. Squash them down well with a potato masher to release all the juice from the lemons.
• Strain the sauce. Pour in the chicken stock and soy sauce and give it all a good stir. Get the child to hold a sieve over a jug while you lift up the pan and strain the juices into the jug. If you want it piping hot, reheat in a pan or in the microwave.