Since fond, and the wordplay therein, is the inspiration of this blog, I thought it appropriate to kick it off with a recipe that uses these little morsels. There are so many ways to cook chicken, but my favorite way is to bake it whole. First of all, it's a lot cheaper, secondly you get to save the bones for broth, and thirdly, you get your choice of which part to eat!
Remember to check the internal temperature of the chicken. A well cooked chicken should be 165° F.
Ingredients
1 3-4lb whole chicken, innards removed and discarded
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
3 sprigs rosemary
3 sprigs thyme
1 lemon
1 Shallot, minced
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup low sodium chicken broth
1 t chopped thyme
1 t chopped rosemary
1-2 T butter (depending on how rich you want your sauce to be)
1 t dijon mustard
To Make Chicken
- Place oven-safe skillet in middle rack of oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
- Slice ½ of lemon into thin slices.
- Pat chicken dry and rub surface and cavity with olive oil, salt, & pepper.
- Place whole sprigs of rosemary, thyme, & lemon slices in cavity of chicken.
- Squeeze the rest of the lemon juice over the bird.
- When oven has preheated place chicken breast side up in your skillet and bake for 25-30 minutes, until breast registers at 120 degrees.
- Turn oven off and leave chicken in oven for another 25-30 minutes, until the breast registers at 165 degrees.
- Remove chicken from skillet and place on cutting board. Let sit for 20 minutes while making the sauce & then carve
For Pan Sauce
- There should be a good amount of fat and juices in your pan. If there isn’t for some reason (maybe your chicken was super into fitness and had a low BMI) add a tablespoon or so of oil to the pan.
- Place the skillet that you roasted the chicken in on stovetop over medium high heat. When hot, add minced shallots and cook until they soften, making sure to stir them frequently.
- Add in your ½ cup of dry white wine and reduce (stirring frequently) by half. This process is called deglazing, and is when all the flavor from the fond is broken up into the sauce. If your gramin’ (instagraming…duh) your process this is where the #yum #foodporn #foodie etc…comes in.
- After the white wine is reduced, add in ½ cup chicken broth and stir until reduced by ½ again.
- Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, rosemary, thyme, & dijon.
- Carve the bird, serve, and top with the delicious fondy magnificence that you just created with your own two hands.
