This is the humble roast chicken reimagined. If you’re in pursuit of juicy chicken with super flavorful chicken skin, this is your recipe. The trick to this recipe is time and preparation. To make that easy, start preparing the bird early in the week so you can enjoy it on the weekend. Most of the daily prep work needed is at most 15 minutes. The time aspect is mostly hands-off — letting the bird do its thing while you wait.
A brine (salt water solution) is a chef’s secret to juicy, flavorful chicken every time. It’s a must! First, give the chicken a bath in the brine. Then apply the rub, and let it soak into the bird for at least a day to really infuse some flavor into the meat.
Thrice cooking is a technique I learned from a great chef many years ago, and I’m happy to be passing it along to you. What is thrice cooking, you may ask? Once is searing the chicken to develop that nice, deep golden brown and delicious exterior by toasting the rub. Twice is roasting the chicken in the oven to simply cook the bird. Thrice is browning the chicken further on the stovetop with foaming brown butter and herbs. And there you have it. Once, twice, thrice-cooked chicken.
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: You will need to prepare the brine before anything else. This brine recipe makes enough for a whole chicken and then some for other meats and fish. It’s a versatile go-to solution to have in your fridge to help make food more flavorful.
Day 1: Brine
Yield: 1 gallon
Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 bay leaves
- 7 sprigs thyme
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup kosher salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 lemon, sliced thinly
- ¼ cup black peppercorns
- 1 whole chicken
Step by Step
Whisk & Brine
- Press the thyme in the palm of your hand to release essential oils
- Whisk the salt and water together in a large bowl, then add bay leaves, thyme, water, sugar, salt, lemon and black peppercorns until the salt and sugar dissolve completely
Give the Bird a Bath
- Place the chicken in the brine and submerge completely for 12 hours
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: The best time to do this is before you go to bed or work. Professional chefs usually save this for the last task of the day because it doesn’t require much effort or attention.
Day 2: Rosemary Orange Rub
Yield: ½ cup
Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon freshly-cracked black peppercorns
- 1-½ tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely-chopped rosemary
- 1-½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1-½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon finely-grated orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- ½ garlic clove, finely grated
- 1-½ teaspoons olive oil
- Salt, to taste
Step by Step
- Place the black peppercorns, parsley and rosemary in a spice grinder, blender or mortar and pestle until the mixture is broken down into fine pieces
- Place mixture in a bowl and add mustard, vinegar, orange juice and zest, garlic and olive oil to make a wet paste
- Season with salt
- You can now rub the chicken with the mixture and store the remainder in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one week for use on other dishes like pork chops or lamb. This recipe is multi purpose.
Day 3: Break Down the Chicken
Now that you have the brine and rub made, the fun part begins. Breaking down a whole chicken may sound intimidating, but it’s not! Not only is it easy to do, but it will save you money in the long run. Buying a whole chicken is far cheaper than buying separate cuts. Or, if you have a wonderful butcher, ask them to break down the bird for you. If your butcher does the job, remember to ask for the bones to make chicken stock.
Prep Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, brined
Step by Step
- Remove the bird from the brine and place under cold running water
- Pat the bird dry before attempting to butcher the chicken
- Place the bird on the chopping block with the breast facing down and the legs closest to you
- Make a cut between the breasts and thighs, exposing the inner thigh
- Firmly force the thigh toward the back of the chicken until you hear the joint pop. Repeat with the other thigh
- With a knife or kitchen shears, cut the legs off the chicken at the thigh joint
- Turn the bird over, breast facing up
- Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut through the thin rib bones on both sides where they meet the backbone
- If necessary, cut the backbone carcass away from where the neck and shoulders meet
- Find the joint where the wings meet the drumettes and cut through the joint with a sturdy knife
- You should have three pieces of chicken: the whole breast and two legs
- Freeze the carcass and wings for chicken stock
Day 4: Apply the Rosemary Orange Rub
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Step by Step
- Dry the whole breast and legs off
- Smear about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the rub all over the skin of the bird
- Place the rubbed chicken, skin side up, on a large plate and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours uncovered to dry out the skin
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: This step is crucial because you’re basically seasoning and flavoring the bird and drying out the skin, which will become super crispy when thrice cooked.
Day 5: Thrice-cooked Chicken
It’s the big day. All the brining, rub making, bird butchering and rub seasoning has come to this moment! Thrice cooked! Since this is more of a process, I’m going to give you the run down and timeframe for thrice cooking.
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rest Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1-½ tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 thyme sprigs
Step by Step
Relax the Chicken
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator one hour before cooking
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: This allows the chicken to cook more evenly and quickly by relaxing the meat so it’s not a shock to the pan. A cold chicken will overcook on the outside, while the inside will be undercooked.
Once Cooked
- Heat a large, heavy pan (cast iron works wonders for this preparation) over medium heat, with just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan
- When the olive oil is hot and lightly smoking, place the chicken in the pan, skin side down. Be sure to press down on the chicken to get full contact with the pan
- Increase heat to medium high and sear for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown
Twice Cooked
- Without flipping the chicken, place the pan in the oven and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the breast juices run clear
Thrice Cooked
- Carefully remove the pan from the oven and put on stove over medium-low heat
- Add butter and thyme to the pan
- As the butter begins to foam, use an oven mitt to slightly tip the pan towards you so that the foaming butter pools in the pan edge
- Use a metal spoon to baste the chicken with butter for about 2 to 3 minutes, making sure the butter doesn’t burn
Rest & Carve the Chicken
- Remove the chicken from the pan, place it skin side up on a cooling rack or plate and let rest for 30 minutes. This allows the juices to relax and redistribute throughout the chicken
- Once rested for 30 minutes, carve the bird up
- Cut the breast bone in half lengthwise with a strong knife. Then halve each breast
- Cut through the leg and thigh joint where they meet
- Save the board drippings for the cutting-board vinaigrette!
Farm2ChefsTable Tip: Resting and carryover cooking: 165F degrees is the proper internal temperature to ensure the chicken is free of bad bacteria and nasty pathogens. The trick is to factor in “carryover cooking”, which happens while the chicken rests. The bird carries on cooking long after it’s pulled out of a very hot oven. Expect to see the temperature rise by at least 15 to 20 degrees before you carve into the bird. So, be sure to pull the bird out at an internal temperature of around 145 to 150F degrees, as it will rest for 30 minutes and the internal temperature will rise to 165 degrees and be safe to eat. If you cook the chicken all the way up to to 165 degrees, then let it rest for 30 minutes, it’ll be dry and overcooked, most likely reaching 185 to 195 degrees.
Cutting-board Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 3 to 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Reserved board drippings leftover from thrice-cooked chicken
Step by Step
- Whisk everything together in a small bowl
- Spoon over top of the chicken
- Serve and enjoy.
Farm2Chef'sTable 