by monkeymom
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3-4 pounds
chicken
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2 tablespoons
softened butter
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1
shallot, sliced thinly
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1/4 cup
softened butter
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1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
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1 teaspoon
finely minced parsley
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1 teaspoon
finely minced chives
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(you can vary the herbs to what you prefer. Chervil, thyme, lemon zest, cayenne, etc. One bird, many options for flavoring)
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Wash and dry chicken. Using your hand, spread softened butter under skin on breasts, especially the part near the neck. Put shallots under skin all around. Sprinkle pepper, then salt the bird very generously all over. The key to a crispy skin is a dry bird, plenty of salt, and a hot oven. Place in refrigerator, uncovered, for 8 hours to overnight.
Ask the hotline about this step!For herb butter, soften the butter and add the other ingredients. Mash with fork to mix thoroughly, then scrape into saran wrap. Wrap up the butter to form a tube and chill in refrigerator.
Ask the hotline about this step!To roast chicken, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use only one rack, placed in the bottom slot of your oven.
Ask the hotline about this step!Place chicken feet side down on tube insert that is placed into a 9 in cake pan. This forms a stable base that will catch the drippings without leaking out. Tuck wing tips behind the neck and pull the legs out to separate them from the breast. This helps them cook a little faster so the breast won’t dry out. If the skin has torn or is short, you can use a toothpick and pin it to the bottom end of the breast. Place the bird into oven and roast for 55 minutes (my chicken was a little under 4 lbs and was cooked perfectly at this time.)
Ask the hotline about this step!Remove nicely browned chicken from oven. Let rest on tube while preparing the rest of your dinner.
Ask the hotline about this step!Slice legs from bird, then carve breasts from bones. Be careful not to cut the wishbone, which is near the neck cavity on the front top of the breast! I’ve disappointed my kids many times by accidently breaking the wishbone prematurely. Pick off the goodies from the rest of the bird and share them with your favorite helper(s).
Ask the hotline about this step!Slice the herb butter and serve with the carved chicken. A little dab of butter on the chicken goes a long way.
Ask the hotline about this step!Play wishbone game.
Ask the hotline about this step!I use a Spanek Vertical Roaster which allows more even cooking.
In the summer I make beer can chicken or as my children like to say "beer butt chicken". I love this concept of roasting in the angel food pan. Just genius! I will try this and use the compound butter idea as well. I miss the "old Carmel" too...
I made this and added some roasted garlic to the herb butter mixture. So yummy. My cousin's boy, who never wants to eat devoured it!
I made this a while back and am looking forward to making it again once the weather cools down. But last time I made this, I set a bunch of brussels sprouts in the bottom of the pan, letting the butter and juices coat them on their way down from dripping... it was a match made in heaven! And so incredibly easy!
Cooked this last night and it was a total crowd pleaser. Thank you monkeymom for the great recipe that I will certainly use for years to come. Thank you also to those responses to my Foodpickle question about what to do in the absence of a tube pan. Used an empty aluminium can and filled it 2/3 of the way with white wine, which made a sturdy base and hopefully the white wine added a little something extra to the roasting process.
Made this for the second time for our family Passover seder, and it was so delcious and moist! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Thanks for the memories this receipe brings.Over 50 years ago my Mother made this using her Angel food pan and used Wild Turkey whiskey mixed with the butter. I miss my mom and her cooking
I think this, over any dessert, might push me to get a tube pan! So happy for your win.
you are hilarious. I can't resist cake. cake and chicken...who would thought they could be unified by a tube pan. Thanks much!
I've now made this twice and am totally sold on the method. Here's why. Apart from the amazing crisp skin all over the chicken, and how quickly the chicken roasts (and how evenly, and how tender and juicy the breast meat remains), there a couple of nice benefits I have not seen mentioned, and did not expect. First, I used a 9" pie plate and the juices that ran off actually collected under the bottom of the tube pan component, and did not evaporate, so I had a more pan juices than in a conventional pan, where they would evaporate. Those juices have a lovely buttery flavor too, due to the butter stuffed under the skin. Second, you don't have to remove the chicken from the tube to carve it. I used a filet knife to pull the meat gently off the carcass. That meant there was no cutting board/surface to clean up! There were some cooked pan juices on the tube pan which came off easily a silicone spatula. Then I just rinsed the pie plate and put it in the dishwasher. (I don't ever put any cooking pan in the dishwasher, so this was yet another time saver.) This is, hands down, a first ballot pick for the Food52 Hall of Fame!!
I'm cooking this tonight!!! Sunday night chicken . thanks for a great recipe.
Ah, I'm so glad this has worked out so well for you! Indeed, my husband does agree that cleaning our nonstick cake pan and the tube is way easier than other methods I've tried before. The carving trick is cool too! Will have to try it. By the way, think of this as a recipe exchange as we enjoyed your sausage and lentil soup last Wed night!
I can't wait to try this, especially the trick with the tube pan. We have roasted chicken at least 3 times a month. I'm all for guilding the lily with the herb butter!
congratulations, monkeymom! i can't wait to try this!
Thanks to everyone for your good wishes. I love being part of this community!
Congrats, monkeymom!! I'm so happy for you!
Congrats on the win!
Congrats monkeymom!! Love the tube pan idea -- I'll now have to definitely dig mine up. Do I have one? Think so...thanks for a great recipe!
congratulations! =D
P.S. I used lemon thyme when I made this, by the way . . . as my regular thyme bush needs a few days of rest, to grow some new leaves, as I've been using so much thyme lately, and my lemon thyme, fortunately, is in a growth spurt. The lemon thyme plus parsley worked really well. Loved the shallot under the skin, too. So easy, So delicious. This should be on everyone's menu this weekend.
Yaaaaaay! I tried both and this recipe is SO much better!!! Plus, it's brilliant. I mean, really brilliant. You rock, MonkeyMom!! ;o)
I think the idea of using a tube pan is brilliant! Does it decrease the cooking time since heat is being sucked up into the inside of the bird? Congratulations!
oops..just saw this. I usually pull the legs away from the body as best I can. I think this helps the thighs cook a little faster so that the breast doesn't dry out as much.
yeah monkeymom!!!!!, congratulations
How clever to use a tube pan here.
Now you've got me thinking what other pans and utensils I hardly use that can be substituted so effectively for other roasting... A meat loaf seems to stew in the loaf pan. Maybe I'll try my grill pan set inside the frying pan approximately the same size for a meat loaf that can drain and be brown all around when finished.
P.S. I love compound butters on steak, what a great idea for chicken too! Your whole recipe is so thoughtfully constructed!
Thank you Daphne! I like the idea of the grill pan. I was wondering the same type of thing when I was cooking my meatloaf, something to drain some of the juices away..maybe a baking rack (the kind with the smaller squares)?
I've always cooked my meatloaf on a cookie cooling rack set on top of a cookie sheet. It doesn't stew in its oil and juice. Also, my favorite part of meatloaf is the carmelized sauce on top and this way you can get a carmelized top and sides!
I think I need a tube pan :)
I have another uncoventional use for the ol' tube pan. But I'm not saying what it is...yet.
Oh my gosh monkeymom - I'm now going through the finalists and just now seeing that this wonderful recipe and technique is your posting! Congrats!!! I love the smart and clever techniques you use including the tube pan and love herb butter on all kinds of things. I keep little rolls of different compound butter flavors in my freezer that I can pull out on a moments notice. I can't wait to try this! Congrats congrats!!
Great idea, keeping the compound butters in the freezer! Will have to do that. Thanks for posting the tip. ;o)
Thanks ChezSuzanne! I have thought of the herb butter as so luxurious, but keeping them in the freezer makes it so much more possible for everyday eating.
Tried your recipe (sort of) this weekend and loved it. I did not plan ahead and was a bit lazy about the herb butter, I made a mint shallot butter (seemed to have a quite bit of mint in the house, wonder why) and stuffed it under the skin, dug out my tube pan ( I think we have the same one) and plonked my little chicken atop it. I really loved how it came out, thank you! when I am feeling less impulsive I will try the recipe all the way through.
I think we have the same tube pan, I've had it for years it was my grandma's and I have never baked a cake in it, just schlep it along from move to move. Now it finally has a purpose.
That is so cool that you tried this and found a use for the old tube pan! I'm glad it turned out for you. It is funny to plunk that chicken on that tube...roasted chickens always look like little hostages to me, no matter how we cook'em!
My husband is seriously perplexed and amused by my supposed 'genius'. He has no idea when I have ever thought long and deep about chicken roasting. However, he did love the chicken! Thanks so much for your kind words everyone. I seriously have been admiring all of your cooking since I got hooked on this site and can't wait to keep learning more from you all!
can't wait to try this one!
Oh, this is CLEVER. I'm with you on the 8hrs of seasoned rest (though I often push it to 24), and I'm going to try the tube pan tomorrow.
congrats, monkeymom! well deserved!
I love the ingenuity in this recipe and your striving for the perfectly crispy skin! And I might just start adding herb butter to everything.
Voted for tube pan chicken! Although both recipes are great, I know my whole family will eat this one! Must send hubby on a mission to the basement to find my tube pan...
I love the recipe note and will attempt the method this week. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! This recipe is wonderful! It's so hard for me to be creative in the kitchen -thanks for the inspiration and for sharing such a yummy dish!
Wow. Genius!
Thank you...I think that my limited kitchen storage space somehow resulted in me using whatever I had to cook with. I've never owned a roasting pan.
I love the technique--genius. I had never heard of the beer can technique, but I like this better: as an avid cake baker, I have tube pans; for drinking, I prefer wine to beer (but wouldn't want to stick a chicken on a wine bottle!). And my son is just as obsessed with the wishbone as your daughter--and as I was when I was little. Wishbones are great. Nice recipe and good luck in the contest.
Thank you! I noticed your antioxidant salad looks very much like a great contestant (with a mint addition) to this weeks theme. beautiful!
way to go monkeymom
Thanks thirschfeld! I love your recipes and look forward to seeing them each week. I learn something new with each one.
Yo monkeymom,
Are you some kind of genius or something?
I like the story. I like the recipe. I hate Carmel but I love Monterey.
Thanks pierino...I love your tripe (and the Monterey Fish House is now our new dining destination when we go down there. Yummy calamari!).
This is a great technique and I love the simplicity. I also leave my birds in the fridge during the day - most often setting them up while my daughter eats breakfast and then racing out the door until I come back later that evening to cook. It works so well and love to see that you do it too, and with such great flavors!
Holy smokes! This is thrilling. I can't wait to tell my daughter, she will be so excited. Thanks for all the good wishes too!
That is absolutely the most ingenious thing I've ever heard. I have a chicken in my freezer I'm going to roast like this next week. Thanks!
Love the recipe, love the story about the wishbone (as I remember so, so well as a kid also playing the wishbone game)!! Congrats, MonkeyMom. You truly deserve this honor!!!
You have just changed my life! We usually cook the chicken on a beer can (Pollo Boracho) inside a roasting pan. The can is always fallling over with the chicken. I can't wait to try it on my tube pan. Thanks!
I really hate my tube pan for baking cakes, it always leaks! Roasting chicken is its one redeeming quality. I hope you are gonna post your recipe. Sounds cool!
p.s. make sure you next your tube insert into a 9 inch cake pan, not the tube pan or else the grease will drip all over your oven!
And I found the lower part of the chicken did not brown if you put it in the whole tube pan not just the insert.
I was worried -- for precisely the reason you state -- when I saw the photo posted by FOOD52 here and in the cookbook, that people would think that the entire pan, and not just the tube on its base, should be used when roasting the chicken. Thanks for pointing this out. ;o)
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This dish calls for a low-maintenence trip to the grocery store.
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The butter should be soft but pliable.
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Merrill starts making her way under the skin of the bird. Take your time -- the skin just needs to loosen from the meat and there's no hurrying it.
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Merrill makes progress -- looks like she's pulling up the chicken's shirt.
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After the butter, you slip in some sliced shallot.
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"Merrill, you missed a spot." "Mind your own beeswax."
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If you're persistent like Merrill, you can even reach all the way up to the chicken's drumsticks and slip some butter in there, too.
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Merrill seasons the bird while Amanda lines up chives like only true virgos can do.
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Amanda makes the herb butter, by mashing softened butter with chopped parsley, chives and salt. Monkeymom says you can use other herbs, as well. We'd think about rosemary and thyme.
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Amanda dropped the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap, then began forming it into a log.
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Voila!
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The bird then loses all its dignity as it's placed atop the tube pan. Then into the oven it goes and that's that!
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This is what happens when you're so busy chatting that you forget you left the instant-read thermometer in the chicken. Guess the chicken is done...?
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I forgot the shallots but it didn't matter. I took the tip to use just the tube pan insert, not the whole pan and my bird got a fantastically golden St. Tropez tan! Moistest and crispiest skin yet, even more so than the Zuni Cafe roast chicken- and a lot less work! Family says YAY!