Roast Chicken Quebecois

An incredibly crispy-skinned roast chicken technique from Quebec.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Yields: 3-4 per chicken

Ingredients

• 1  whole chicken
• 1  lemon, cut up
• 1⁄4 cup  whole fresh rosemary
• 1 -3  whole garlic clove, to taste
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 3 -4  tablespoons  softened butter
• 1⁄2 cup  soft wheat flour
• 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
• 1⁄2-1  cup water

Directions

1. Thi is easily doubled or tripled, if you have enough roasting rack space.
2. Rinse, then dry chicken with paper towels. Salt the cavity with 1 tsp salt, and put a cut-up lemon, some garlic cloves, and the fresh rosemary inside the cavity.
3. Butter the (whole, dry) outside of the chicken with soft butter.
4. Then flour the whole thing.
5. Put it on a rack, and roast it in a 400 degree oven until juices run clear. (I do this with 2 fryers at a time, and roast them for about an hour.).
6. Remove from oven, let sit 10 minutes uncovered (you want that crisp skin to stay crisp). Discard the flavoring ingredients from the cavity.
7. Meanwhile, de-grease the roasting pan leaving about 3 tablespoons of fat, add 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup water to the crusty fond at the bottom of the roasting pan, and boil over high heat, scraping to incorporate the fond. Reduce the juices by about half, put the juices into a serving bowl.
8. Carve the chicken at table to show off the beautiful, crisp skin, which everyone will want to taste. Pass the reduced juices for a natural, flavorful and elegantly simple sauce.