Sunday Night Cider-Roasted Chicken & Root Vegetables

Usually, around the beginning of October, I get the urge to roast a chicken. Maybe it’s to try and get myself in the mood for Thanksgiving’s turkey but mostly, I think, it’s because roasting poultry is a very Fallish thing to do. I typically use a combination of recipes — the brine from a Cider Roasted Chicken recipe from Cooking Light Magazine and the actual chicken cooking directions from America’s Test Kitchen’s The Cook’s Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry — because ATK’s never led me wrong yet. Yeah, the new edition has a different name but it’s the same book — and I highly recommend it.

There are a number of steps but most can be spread out enough as to not create a big time crunch. Plus, after the chicken actually gets in the oven (aside form the turning) you can pretty much kick back and wait for the house to smell all yummy.

Apple Cider Brine:
3 quarts water
1 quart apple cider
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 bay leaf

For the chicken:
2 cups apple cider
1 5-6 pound roasting chicken
1 red onion, quartered
3 springs rosemary
2 tbsp butter
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Salt & pepper

For the vegetables:
3 carrots
6 red potatoes
1 turnip
2 shallots
10 cloves garlic

Combine brine ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil, cool and refrigerate until ready to use. I usually make this the day before, so it has time to cool down to room temp and then be stored in the fridge overnight until I need it. On the morning of the dinner, remove giblets from chicken and rinse. Place chicken in brine and refrigerate for 8 hours. When brining time is up, rinse the chicken and pat dry. Discard the brine.

Bring 2 cups of cider to a boil and reduce to 1/4 cup. Set aside.

Prep the vegetables:
Preheat oven to 375, then turn you attention to the veggies. Quarter potatoes and shallots. Chop carrots and turnip into 2 inch chunks. Peel garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil (just a bit — maybe 1 tsp) and salt and pepper. Place in the bottom of the roasting pan. You know, I love the chicken, but I think the vegetables are my favorite part of this meal. Chicken fat, potatoes, carrots, shallots, turnips and garlic cloves all roasted together is just a magical combination.

Now comes the chicken:
Combine butter and garlic and work under the skin of the chicken breast. Place quartered red onion and rosemary inside cavity. Drizzle olive oil over chicken, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast on a rack, wing side up for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, other wing side up and roast for 20 more minutes. Turn breast side up and brush with reduced cider. Return to oven and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 160 degrees and the thigh reads 170 (25-30 minutes longer). Let rest for 10 minutes. Remove vegetables from pan and either return to oven or if they are caramelized enough, cover with foil to keep warm.

Gravy:
I made a quick pan gravy with the drippings, more apple cider, chicken stock, fresh thyme, salt, pepper and a butter/flour roux to thicken it up.

Uh, this above is the serving plate — not one serving!

Carve and serve chicken with roasted vegetables and gravy on the side. We also had this salad with mixed greens, parmesan, apple and walnuts. So, so, so good and we will most likely be eating chicken for a couple of more dinners this week. All of the veggies, however, are gone because they were, in a completely apt, yet possibly impolite turn of phrase — fucking awesome.

Tonight, however, it’s a light and healthy red pepper and tomato soup.