Julia Child's Roast Chicken

A delicious and fairly simple to prepare roast chicken recipe. The key is in the attention you give the chicken while it is roasting, the more you baste, the juicier it will be! This is a delicious recipe on it's own but is also a wonderful base recipe for anything that calls for shredded or diced cooked chicken. Would be great to roast a few and then keep the shredded chicken/chicken pieces in the freezer for use in salads or on sandwiches.

• Ready In: 1 hr 35 mins
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 1 3 pound chicken

Ingredients

• 3  lbs roasting chickens or 3  lbs frying chicken
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 6  tablespoons  softened butter
• 1  small  sliced carrot
• 1  small  sliced onion
• 1  tablespoon  good  cooking oil
• 1⁄2 tablespoon  minced shallots or 1⁄2 tablespoon green onion
• 1  cup  brown  chicken stock, canned chicken broth or 1  cup  beef bouillon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with 1/4 teaspoons salt and 1 Tb. butter.
3. Truss the chicken and dry it thoroughly.
4. Rub the skin with 1 Tb. butter.
5. In a small saucepan melt 2 tb. butter, and 1 tb. cooking oil. Set aside for basting.
6. Place the chicken, breast up, in a shallow roasting pan. Strew the vegetables around it and set it on the rack in the middle of a preheated oven.
7. Allow the chicken to brown lightly for 15 minutes, turning it on the left side after 5 minutes, and the right side for the remaining 5 minutes. Baste after each turn with the butter and oil mixture.
8. Reduce oven to 350 degrees.
9. Leave the chicken on its side and baste every 8 to 10 minutes using the fat in the roasting pan when the butter and oil are exhausted.
10. Halfway through estimated roasting time (about 40 minutes in) salt the chicken with 1/4 teaspoons of salt and turn it on its other side. Continue basting.
11. Fifteen minutes before the end of estimated roasting time (about 1 hour and 5 minutes in) salt again and turn the chicken breast up. Continue basting.
12. When done, discard trussing strings and set on a hot platter. Chicken should sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before being carved so the juices are absorbed by the meat. Chicken is done when it registers between 175 and 190 degrees, depending on your preferred doneness.
13. While the chicken is sitting, remove all but two tablespoons of fat from the pan.
14. Stir in the minced shallot and cook slowly for 1 minute. Add the stock and boil rapidly over high heat, letting it reduce to about 1/2 cup.
15. Season with salt and pepper and swirl in the last 1-2 tablespoons butter.
16. Pour a spoonful over chicken and serve the rest at the table as gravy.