Roast chicken with potatoes, recipe for those who have never roasted chicken before
Last Updated on
Total: 2 h 5 min Diners: 4
Who hasn’t enjoyed a freshly roasted chicken. It is one of my favorite dishes, one of those culinary memories of childhood: the roast chicken with potatoes on Sundays. And making it at home is very easy, dare because the result is worth it.
Ingredients
Whole and clean chicken White wine or beer, 1/2 glass Chicken or vegetable broth, 1/2 glass Rosemary, 1 bunch Garlic, 4 cloves Butter, 1 tablespoon Lemon, 1
Step 1
On a baking dish put the chicken, pour a dash of oil on top and a good handful of salt.
Step 2
Put the chicken with a fork and prick the skin 5 times on a rack on top of the oven dish, so that it does not touch the base. We put the chicken breast up in the oven for 1 hour at 180ºC without any liquid or other ingredients.
Step 3
In a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, brown 4 cloves of garlic, add the white wine (or beer), the chicken (or vegetable) stock, the butter, the zest of half a lemon and the rosemary. Put on a 6/10 heat for about 15 minutes to reduce slightly and infuse the rosemary.
Step 4
After the hour of cooking, put the potatoes on the baking tray, sprinkle the chicken with our sauce so that it gets all wet and falls on the potatoes. Bake for another hour at 180ºC or until golden brown and crispy.
Step 5
When the skin is crispy, carve and serve immediately. If we want the sauce thicker we can pass it to a saucepan and reduce over high heat for five minutes.
How to make perfect roast chicken
Although making roast chicken in the oven at home is not complicated there are some things to keep in mind that make the difference and make it a normal roast chicken or the best roast chicken you’ve ever tasted.
The most important thing is the two baking times of one hour each. It is essential to bake for an hour without any liquid so that the chicken starts to cook and dehydrate slightly first. If we cook with liquid from the beginning, the skin will cook and it will be very difficult to get that wonderful crispiness.
Remember that one of the keys to roast chicken is that it is tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, and we get that with the two baking, first without any liquid and then watered with our delicious sauce.
Another aspect that makes a difference when roasting a chicken is the container we use. The ideal is to use a rectangular baking dish with a rack like this one, so that the chicken is inside the dish without contact with the base, but we can make do with what we have at home.
You just have to keep in mind that the dish has to be the closest possible size to the chicken and that this should not touch the base. I’ve used two small pieces of wood underneath to prevent the meat from touching the base of the pan.
The sauce that I propose for the roast chicken in this recipe is very simple and basic, but everyone can modify it and adapt it as they prefer. Making it more citrusy by adding orange and lime zest with some of their juices is a great idea, or if you prefer to tend more towards aromatic herbs by adding thyme (always fresh better).
As you can see the roast chicken recipe to make in the oven at home is much easier than we would have imagined, you only need to take the plunge to prepare it and in the end you will never buy a prepared one again because at home and freshly made always tastes better.
