Julia Child's Roast Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 3 lbs roasting chickens or 3 lbs frying chicken
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 small sliced carrot
• 1 small sliced onion
• 1 tablespoon good cooking oil
• 1/2 tablespoon minced shallots or 1/2 tablespoon green onion
• 1 cup brown chicken stock, canned chicken broth or 1 cup beef bouillon

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• 2 sprinkle the inside of the chicken with 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1 tb. butter.
• 3 truss the chicken and dry it thoroughly.
• 4 rub the skin with 1 tb. butter.
• 5 in a small saucepan melt 2 tb. butter, and 1 tb. cooking oil. set aside for basting.
• 6 place the chicken, breast up, in a shallow roasting pan. strew the vegetables around it and set it on the rack in the middle of a preheated oven.
• 7 allow the chicken to brown lightly for 15 minutes, turning it on the left side after 5 minutes, and the right side for the remaining 5 minutes. baste after each turn with the butter and oil mixture.
• 8 reduce oven to 350 degrees.
• 9 leave the chicken on its side and baste every 8 to 10 minutes using the fat in the roasting pan when the butter and oil are exhausted.
• 10 halfway through estimated roasting time (about 40 minutes in) salt the chicken with 1/4 teaspoons of salt and turn it on its other side. continue basting.
• 11 fifteen minutes before the end of estimated roasting time (about 1 hour and 5 minutes in) salt again and turn the chicken breast up. continue basting.
• 12 when done, discard trussing strings and set on a hot platter. chicken should sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before being carved so the juices are absorbed by the meat. chicken is done when it registers between 175 and 190 degrees, depending on your preferred doneness.
• 13 while the chicken is sitting, remove all but two tablespoons of fat from the pan.
• 14 stir in the minced shallot and cook slowly for 1 minute. add the stock and boil rapidly over high heat, letting it reduce to about 1/2 cup.
• 15 season with salt and pepper and swirl in the last 1-2 tablespoons butter.
• 16 pour a spoonful over chicken and serve the rest at the table as gravy.