
Chef’s Roasted Chicken
Recipe courtesy of Edward Leonard, CMC, Director of Culinary Operations, Fresh Meadow Country Club
Ingredients
- natural raised-right chicken - 1 3 -to 4-lb.
- water - 1 gal.
- kosher salt - 3 Tbsps.
- sugar - 1 tsp.
- unsalted butter - 4 Tbsps., softened
- extra virgin olive oil - 2 Tbsps.
- garlic cloves - 5, 1 minced
- salt - to taste
- freshly ground pepper - to taste
- sweet onion - 1, quartered
- leek - 1, cleaned and sliced thick
- Bliss Asian fish sauce - 1 Tbsp.
- For Chicken Sauce
- fat and drippings from your roast chicken - 1/3 cup
- all purpose flour - 2 1/2 Tbsps.
- cold chicken stock - 2 cups (or more if needed)
- kosher salt - to taste
- ground black pepper - to taste
- remaining fat and pan drippings - 2 to 4 Tbsps.
- For Polenta
- salt - to taste
- pepper - to taste
- medium or fine cornmeal - 1 cup
- chicken broth - 5 cups
- extra virgin olive oil - 2 Tbsps.
- butter - 3 Tbsps.
- REAL grated Parmesan - 1/2 cup
- heavy cream - 1/2 to 1 cup
- For Mushrooms
- butter - 1 Tbsp.
- extra virgin olive oil - 2 tsps.
- fresh small shitake or cremini - 1 ½ lbs., trimmed and in quarters
- chicken broth - 1/4 cup
- demi glace - 1/4 cup
- cold butter - 2 Tbsps.
- salt - to taste
- pepper - to taste
- tarragon - 1 tsp., minced
- For Braised Celery and Celery Salad
- celery - 8 stalks, rinsed and trimmed, leaves picked and reserved for salad
- unsalted butter - 2 Tbsps.
- kosher salt - pinch
- freshly ground black pepper - pinch
- quality chicken broth - 1/2 cup
- cracked pink peppercorn - as needed
- vinaigrette - 1 Tbsps.
Instructions
- Rinse chicken and then add salt and sugar to a gallon of cold water. Mix well, then submerge chicken. Keep for 2 to 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 425º and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.
- In a bowl, blend the butter with the extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and cloves. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove chicken from brine and pat the chicken dry.
- Truss or tie the chicken.
- Rub half of the butter under the skin and membrane, then the rest over the chicken; season with salt and pepper.
- In the bottom of roasted pan, add vegetables and stock, then set the chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.
- Roast for 30 minutes, until the breast is firm and just beginning to brown in spots.
- Turn the chicken breast down and roast for 20 minutes longer, until the skin is lightly browned.
- Turn the chicken breast side up again; add more broth if needed and baster with the fat in the pan, or some more butter.
- After chicken is cooked (thickest part of thigh meat 155/160 degrees, as carry-over cooking will finish), remove and let rest. Strain juices from pan and discard vegetables.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine or stock and reserve to make gravy, using fat as well for roux.
For Chicken Sauce:
- In a stainless-steel sauce pan, add fat from roasting the chicken.
- Add flour and whisk in well, over medium heat.
- Over low heat, toast flour until light brown and mixture gives off a nutty fragrance (about five minutes).
- Drizzle about 1/3-cup cold chicken stock at a time into pan drippings, whisking each addition of stock into mixture until thoroughly combined.
- Continue whisking, scraping any browned pan drippings from the bottom of a pan into gravy; bring to a simmer.
- Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until gravy is thick (8 to 10 minutes).
- Adjust thickness of gravy as desired.
- Whisk in salt and pepper to taste and the remaining drippings with fat.
- Strain gravy before serving.
For Polenta:
- Over high heat, bring 4 cups broth to a boil in a medium-sized stainless-steel heavy sauce pan.
- Add 1 tsp. salt. Pour cornmeal slowly into water, whisking with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Continue stirring as mixture thickens (two to three minutes).
- Turn heat to low. Cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring every six minutes or so.
- Add up to 1 cup more broth as necessary, to keep polenta soft enough to stir.
- Taste polenta with a tasting spoon; grains should be swollen and taste cooked, not raw.
- Mix in extra-virgin olive oil and butter, then cheese and cream until desired consistency.
- Serve immediately or transfer to a double boiler set over low heat; cover and keep warm for up to an hour or so.
For Mushrooms:
- Melt butter and oil over medium heat in a large stainless-steel pan.
- Add garlic and sauté for two minutes.
- Add sliced mushrooms, blend and cook for about five minutes.
- Add broth and cook another two to three minutes, then add demi-glace, cooking over medium heat.
- Season with salt and pepper and herbs.
- Remove from pan and serve.
For Braised Celery and Celery Salad:
- Peel outer stalks of celery with a vegetable peeler.
- Trim and cut into three even, two-and-a-half to three-inch pieces.
- Heat half the butter in a 12-inch, stainless-steel sauté pan over medium heat.
- Once melted, add the celery, salt and pepper, and cook for four to five minutes on low heat.
- Add broth and other tablespoon of butter; stir to combine.
- Cover and reduce the heat to low.
- Cook until the celery is firm but tender (about four minutes).
- Uncover and allow the celery to continue to cook for an additional two minutes.
- Remove celery; cook broth until liquid has been reduced to a glaze.
- Transfer to a serving dish. Take celery leaves from cold water, pat dry and mix with some sea salt, the peppercorns and dressing. Garnish celery.