Chicken à la Reine and Spring Chickens

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Shallow roasting pan
• •Kitchen twine
• •Basting spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Carving knife and fork

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the birds

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Take the bird from the cold about 30 minutes before roasting, remove any giblets, and dry the skin and cavity thoroughly. Tuck the wing tips underneath and tie the legs together lightly, preserving a neat shape without binding the bird into a parcel. Season inside and out with the salt and pepper. Rub 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) of the softened butter over the skin and inside the cavity, dividing it evenly if using poussins.

   Dry skin browns; damp skin softens in its own moisture. Take the extra minute with the towel, especially beneath the wings and around the thighs.
2. 2

   Roast the first side

   Lay the pullet on one thigh in a shallow roasting pan, propping it securely against the pan edge if necessary. Roast for 15 minutes. For poussins, begin checking the colour after 10 minutes. Spoon the melted butter from the pan over the exposed skin, then turn the bird onto its other thigh and roast for the same length of time. This deliberate turning is the home oven's answer to the roasting spit.

3. 3

   Finish breast upward

   Turn the bird breast upward and add ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) water to the pan without pouring it over the skin. Roast the pullet for another 20 to 30 minutes, or the poussins for 15 to 20 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. If the pan dries and its fond threatens to blacken, add the remaining water a little at a time. Brown fond tastes of roast chicken; black fond tastes burned, and no amount of butter can negotiate with it.

4. 4

   Read the thigh

   Pierce the thickest part of the inner thigh close to the joint, taking care not to strike bone. The juice should run clear to pale white with no pink, the leg should move freely, and an instant-read thermometer should register 165°F (74°C). The pullet will usually need 50 to 60 minutes in all, while poussins often need 35 to 45 minutes, but the bird decides. If the juices remain pink, return it to the oven for 5 minutes and test again. If the breast is already deeply bronzed, cover only that area loosely with foil. Ça se rattrape.

5. 5

   Rest the roast

   Transfer the cooked bird to a warm platter and rest it for 15 minutes with a loose tent of foil. Do not wrap it tightly, or the crisp skin softens. Resting lets the juices settle back through the meat, and it gives you precisely enough time to finish the pan.

6. 6

   Make the jus

   Spoon off the excess surface fat from the roasting pan, leaving the brown fond and its savoury juices behind. Set the pan over medium heat and scrape thoroughly as the liquid comes to a simmer. Reduce until the jus de rôti tastes concentrated and lightly coats a spoon, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the reserved 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter. If the jus looks oily, whisk in a teaspoonful of the remaining water off the heat; if it tastes weak, reduce it further. A cloth-strained sauce belonged to a staffed service. For this table, a small sieve is ample, and even that is optional.

7. 7

   Carve and serve

   Carve the pullet into legs and breast portions, or split each poussin lengthwise so every guest receives half a bird. Arrange the meat on the warm platter and spoon over enough jus to give it a butter-bright sheen, passing the rest at the table. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •In this source, Chicken à la Reine names the size and quality of the bird, not a preparation covered with a separate sauce. Keep the seasoning plain so the roast itself remains the point.
• •If the poultry counter has no pullet or poussin, choose the smallest good whole chicken you can comfortably buy, ideally about 3 to 3½ lb (1.35 to 1.6 kg). Technique first, always. Roast it on the pullet timing and judge the thigh.
• •Keep the cavity empty. A bread or meat stuffing changes the rate at which the bird cooks, which defeats the source entry's clean lesson about size and time.
• •Serve with pommes sautées, buttered peas, or a green salad dressed sharply enough to meet the roasting jus. A white Burgundy or light Beaujolais sits happily beside it without turning a simple roast into theater.
• •Refrigerate leftover meat within two hours. It keeps well for up to three days and is best reheated gently with a spoonful of the jus so the breast does not dry.

Advance Preparation

• •The bird may be dried, salted, and left uncovered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. This seasons the meat and helps the skin brown; add the pepper and butter just before roasting.
• •Tuck the wings and tie the legs up to 4 hours ahead, then keep the bird cold. Remove it about 30 minutes before it goes into the oven.
• •Roast close to serving time and keep the full 15-minute rest. Use that pause to make the jus de rôti rather than holding the cooked bird in a warm oven, which continues cooking the breast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)