Recipes from the Collection of Mark and Danielle Hughes

Perfect Roast Chicken: evenly cooked, with crisp skin

Roast chicken ought to be a piece of cake. But all too often the bird fails to brown evenly and the meat is overdone or underdone. Or overdone and underdone.

There are two culprits at work here: physiology and topology.

Chicken is made up of two types of meat that cook at different rates and are considered ``done'' at different temperatures. Dark meat needs to get to 180 degrees; breast meat is best eaten at 160. Nor is the shape of the bird conducive to even cooking -- it's thin in some places, thick in others, with protrusions of different dimensions and a big old hole in the center.

As long as they have been roasting chickens, humans have struggled to come up with a way to get a crisp-skinned, evenly cooked bird. One approach favored by classically trained chefs is to turn the bird over during the cooking. In my experience, this usually results in a mangled bird and potholders impregnated with chicken grease.

Restaurants that depend for their livelihood on roast chickens often cook them on a rotisserie. The home cook can learn a lot from this method: The absence of a pan and the slow rotation of the spit ensures that every facet of the bird is exposed equally to the heat source. Also, the relatively large capacity of most rotisserie ovens means there is plenty of hot, dry air circulating around the chickens.

For those of you who do not have a commercial rotisserie, we present herewith four easy methods for roasting a whole chicken, none of which requires turning the specimen, and all of which will result in a crisp, evenly cooked bird.

No measurements are given. All you need is olive oil or butter (the latter browns a bit darker), salt, pepper and a chicken anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 pounds. Cooking times will vary according to the size of the bird and, for this reason, it's crucial to have an instant-read meat thermometer. At the thickest part of the breast, it should read 160 degrees; at the thickest part of the thigh, 180 degrees.

It's traditional to put vegetables in the bottom of the pan in which you roast chicken, but I've found that the steam they create while cooking tends to hinder the browning of the bird's underside. If you want to strew a few onions in the bottom of the pan, go ahead, but otherwise, cook vegetables in a separate baking dish. (Michael Chiarello's Cocorico chicken roaster is an exception to this rule; it is designed to suspend the chicken well above the level of the vegetables so both cook properly.)

Two hungry adults can easily put away a small chicken, so I never count on one feeding more than three people. For four people, I'd cook two birds. If worst comes to worst, you can make chicken salad with the leftovers.

Rack-roasted chicken

Serves 2-4

1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 4 pounds
Olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take chicken out of refrigerator and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub with olive oil or butter, and generously sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.

Place rack in pan. Place a little water in pan and put it (with rack) in oven for 10 minutes. (The water keeps the pan from burning; later, if drippings start to scorch, pour some hot water into the pan.)

Remove pan from oven, place chicken on rack, return to oven and cook for 1 1/4 hours to 1 3/4 hours. Skin should be crisp, juices should run clear, breast meat should register 160 on a meat thermometer; dark meat, 180. Take bird out of pan and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Michael Chiarello's Cocorico roast chicken

Serves 2-4

1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 4 pounds
Olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Take chicken out of refrigerator and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub with olive oil or butter, and generously sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Place chicken on cone with legs facing up. If desired, place vegetables around chicken in the platter.

Place chicken in center of oven and roast 15 minutes. Turn heat to 375 degrees and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours. When done, skin should be crisp, juices should run clear, breast meat should register 160 on a meat thermometer; dark meat, 180. Take bird out of pan and let rest 15 minutes before carving. If vegetables aren't done yet, return pan to oven.

Cast-iron roast chicken

Serves 2-4

1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 4 pounds
Olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take chicken out of refrigerator and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub with olive oil or butter and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat on stove. Pour in a little olive oil. Place chicken, breast up, in hot pan and cook until chicken back is nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Don't move chicken around; leave it in one place, shaking pan occasionally so it doesn't stick.

Place pan in oven and cook for 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours. Every so often, check that pan drippings are not burning and, if they are, pour a little hot water into pan. When done, skin should be crisp, juices should run clear, breast meat should register 160 on a meat thermometer; dark meat, 180. Take bird out of pan and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

Note: With this method, it's almost a waste not to make a pan sauce: Put half a lemon and some fresh herbs in bird's cavity before cooking. After removing bird from pan, pour off all but a little of the fat. Tilt chicken over pan so all juices drip out, and add lemon and herbs to pan. Put pan over medium-high heat on stove, add 1/2 cup or so of chicken broth, wine or a combination. Simmer sauce until it reduces a bit. Serve with bird.

Butterflied roast chicken

Serves 2-4

1 chicken, 2 1/2 to 4 pounds
Olive oil or butter
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Set bird so legs are face down and back is facing you. With poultry shears, cut on either side of backbone and remove it. (Roast it with chicken, or save for stock.) Place chicken on pan skin side up. Turn legs so they are knock-kneed, not bow-legged. Press down on chicken to break breastbone and flatten it a little. Dry bird thoroughly with paper towels. Rub with olive oil or butter, and generously sprinkle all over with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Roast chicken 30 to 50 minutes. Skin should be crisp and juices should run clear. Breast meat should register 160 degrees on a meat thermometer; dark meat, 180 degrees.

Take bird out of pan and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

More roast chicken tips

If you've got a little extra time, these refinements to the basic chicken-roasting method will give your bird extra oomph.

Lemon-herb stuffing Cut up a lemon and place it, along with some sprigs of rosemary or thyme, in the chicken's cavity. This will subtly flavor the bird and will make its juices truly delicious.

Drying and salting To get an ultra-crisp and paper-thin skin, try this restaurant trick: The night before you plan to cook the bird, take it out of its package, dry it thoroughly with paper towels and rub a teaspoon or so of kosher salt into the skin. Place on a rack and refrigerate, uncovered, for up to 18 hours.

Herb butter Give the breast meat extra flavor and moisture by whipping up an herb butter. In a small food processor -- or in a large mortar -- puree a handful of mixed herbs with butter. Gently loosen the skin of the breast and rub the butter all over the breast under the skin, getting down into the thighs if you can manage it.

Brining Soaking the chicken in a solution of salt and water will make the bird more moist and tastier. Dissolve 1 1/2 cups kosher salt (or 3/4 cup table salt) and, if desired, 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar in 3 quarts of water. Completely immerse chicken in liquid and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. If you intend to brine overnight, use about half as much salt and sugar. Before cooking, rinse bird well and blot dry. (Don't brine a kosher chicken; the koshering process includes a saltwater soak.)

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