Rotir du Poulet

I'm always looking for a good recipe and I found one for rotir du poulet (roast chicken).  It is from the book Joie De Vivre by Robert Arbor.  This recipe uses the fresh bounty of vegetables growing during the summer months but can be made anytime and is an easy recipe to follow.

I tried to find a good image of the book but alas I could not find one that wasn't blurry.

Ingredients:

Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
1 fresh free range chicken about 3 pounds (I used a roasting chicken)
4 cloves of garlic or to taste
Pinch of herbes de Provence (thyme, bay, rosemary, oregano)
1 slice of stale bread
Olive oil, butter, or duck fat (I used olive oil)
1 bunch of carrots with greens intact to insure flavor
2 Roma tomatoes
2 medium onions
1 glass of white wine (optional)
I also added a couple stalks of celery for flavor

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place salt, pepper, and paprika inside the chicken cavity.  Add one or two cloves of garlic and herbes de Provence.  Replace liver, heart, and gizzards in cavity if you eat them (I did not. It just didn't sound very appetizing to me)  Rub the stale bread with one clove of garlic and stuff it in the cavity.

Don't bother to tie or truss the chicken.  Simply push the chicken back into shape and tuck wing tips under the bird.

Rub the skin of the chicken with the fat of your choice...olive oil, butter or duck fat.  Season the outside with the same herbs you stuffed the chicken with if you wish.

In a low-sided pan that has been lightly rubbed with oil, place the following:  the seasoned chicken; the carrots (greens removed, peeled but whole); the onions (cut in half then into 4 wedges, and then cut across into 1/8 strips); the tomatoes (cored and cut into 4 wedges); one clove of garlic.

Cook for at least 1 hour and until juice from a pricked thigh runs clear.  It is not bad to cook this chicken a little longer than necessary, but it is awful to undercook chicken.  You do not need to baste.

When done, remove the chicken to a serving platter.  Remove the vegetables and place them around the chicken.

Bring the remaining juice in the pan to a boil. Add salt and pepper and deglaze with a glass of water (or white wine).  When the liquid boils and reduces a bit, pour it into a sauceboat and serve with the chicken and vegetables.  (I forgot to do this as everyone in my family was starving by the time the chicken was finished so we decided to forgo this step) HA

Ready to go into the oven.

VOILA!  Rotir du poulet.  Apprecier le repas  (enjoy the meal)

That's it for today on french cooking 101.  I hope you will try this as it was "delicious" cooked only the way the French can cook it.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment under the Mother's Day Giveaway (the post beneath this one) for a chance to win a lovely gift!