by Caitlin Saniga

I cooked the chicken, but I let Joel carve it. I’ll never forget the way he pulled apart that bird, sampling as he went. “This is just perfect,” he couldn’t stop saying.
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped
- zest of 1 lemon
- coarse sea salt, to taste
- fresh-cracked black pepper, to taste
- 7-pound roasting chicken
- 1 lemon quartered
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix the thyme, olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Rinse the chicken, and pat dry. Place the chicken in a roasting pan. Rub all but about 1 tablespoon garlic-thyme oil over. Place the lemon wedges in the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together with string.
Roast the chicken for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Roast the chicken until the meat thermometer inserted into the thicken part of the inner thigh registers 180 degrees, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Lift the chicken and tilt slightly, emptying the juice from the cavity into the pan. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Pour the pan juices into a large glass measuring cup. Spoon the fat off the top. Add wine to a small pan, and scrape any remnants from the roasting pan into the pan as well. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Pour the wine mixture into a measuring cup with the pan juices. Add enough chicken broth to the cup to measure 1 1/2 cups. Return the broth mixture to the small pan. Mix the flour into the reserved garlic-thyme oil. Whisk into the broth mixture. Boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a sauceboat.
Serve chicken warm, passing pann-juice mixture separately.
Makes 6 servings.
Recipe adapted from: Bon Appetit
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