My Best Roast Chicken Ever

This was without a doubt my best roast chicken ever.

I recently acquired a copy of 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken and 50 Ways to Roast It by Tony Rosenfeld. It is chocked full of great ways to roast a chicken. Tony recommends roast TWO chickens (which I did), eating one for dinner and then using the second in one of the 150 ways.

To start with, I brined the chickens. I have never done this before but after tonight it has become an essential step. While Tony provides several interesting brines (like Orange-Rosemary Brine), I used just the simple basic brine:

Basic Brine for 2 Chickens
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Gallon Water

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the water. Completely submerge the chickens in the brine. Refirgerate for 4-12 hours.

I found these 1.1 gallon Rubbermaid containers at the supermarket and they are perfect for a 3.5 – 4 pound chicken. I must admit that these containers, full of brine and a chicken reminded me of something I might see in a laboratory somewhere 😉

6 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 teaspoons brown sugar

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Brush the mixture all over the chicken, giving it a nice coat. Don’t be sparing, you’ve got plenty. Preheat the oven to 450F.

Now here s where Tony and I part ways. I got religion on the subject of ‘breast-side-up’ vs ‘breast side-down’ from Pam Anderson’s March 2006 article in Fine Cooking. I roast breast-side-down for 30 minutes. Place the chicken on a V-Rack in a roasting pan breast-side-down. Pour a cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan and put it in the oven. Check now and then to make sure the bottom of the roasting pan has not gone dry. If so, add a little more water.

After 30 minutes, briefly pull the roasting pan out of the oven and flip the bird over. Brush some more of the mustard mixture on the chicken. Return it to the oven for another 20 minutes or so, until the temperature of the thigh meat reaches 175F.

Remove from the oven, let it rest for 20 minutes, carve, and serve.

This was absolutely the most flavorful chicken I have ever made.