The Best Roast Chicken

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Reader Helen Thompson warns, "This one might test the Groan-O-Meter."

Q: Did you hear about the Italian Chef who died?
A: He pasta way.

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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Producing the perfectly roasted chicken is a challenge to any cook.
The breast meat tends to dry out while the thighs tend to be
under-cooked, and the skin can be variously soft, gummy, dry, or
tasteless. The editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine devote three
full pages to the description of their testing procedures for this
single recipe, and I won't attempt to summarize it all in this short
space but I will mention that they finally answered the question of
whether to truss or not to truss (don't truss). Let's just say that
temperature regulation and turning the chicken are both critical
factors in this simple recipe. If you don't have a V-rack, use a
couple of wads of crumpled aluminum foil to prop up the bird.

The Best Roast Chicken

All recipes this week are adapted from "The Best Recipe" by the
editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. For more information about
this book, please see my original review at
http://www.worldwiderecipes.com/cookbooks.htm

1 whole chicken (about 3 lbs, 1.35 Kg), rinsed
and patted dry with paper towels
2 Tbs (30 ml) melted butter or olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place a shallow roasting pan in the oven while it preheats to 375F
(190C). Brush the chicken with the butter and season liberally,
inside and out, with salt and pepper. Remove the hot roasting pan
from the oven and place a V-rack or plain wire rack in the bottom.
Place the chicken on the rack on its side so that one wing is pointing
up, and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken to the other side and
roast 15 minutes. Turn the chicken on its back (breast side up) and
turn the oven to 450F (230C). Roast until an instant-read thermometer
registers 160F (71C) in the breast and 165 to 170F (73 - 77C) in the
thigh, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let
rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serves 4 to 6.
Received on Thu May 27 09:28:29 2004