[0 - 3] Hey, what's up guys, welcome back to Basics with Babish, where this week we're taking a look
[3 - 8] at something very basic indeed: the whole roasted chicken. This is something that
[8 - 12] you could just throw together, hit with some salt and pepper, put it in the oven, and
[12 - 16] it would come out 'okay'. But we could elevate it, we can make it better than that.
[16 - 22] And we're going to use a few simple techniques to make our chicken crispy, juicy, flavorful...
[22 - 25] and then we're going to finish it all, with a delicious gremolata.
[25 - 30] This is how you wanna have your whole roasted chicken. Now, let's get down to basics.
[44 - 50] Basics with Babish and the all-new basicswithbabish.com are brought to you by Squarespace.
[50 - 55] Head there now to check out recipes from the show, kitchen equipment lists, my personal blog posts, and more.
[55 - 59] Get 10% off your first Squarespace order with offer code "Babish".
[59 - 64] Whether you need a domain, website, or online store, make your next move with Squarespace.
[65 - 70] Alright, so last week we broke down our bird, but this week we're keeping it in one piece with the exception of
[70 - 74] removing the spine. We're going to spatchcock, or butterfly, this bird
[74 - 77] which evenly exposes all the skin to the heat so it can crisp up better,
[77 - 82] and also exposes the thighs and drums to more heat so they can cook more quickly
[82 - 85] than they would if they were tucked underneath the body of the bird, which is a good thing
[85 - 89] because we want the thighs to reach a target temperature of about 175˚F,
[89 - 93] almost 20˚ higher than where we want our breasts to be.
[93 - 95] So once we've carefully snipped along the length of the spine,
[95 - 97] which you can definitely hang onto for making stock,
[97 - 102] we're going to place a snip in the center of the breastbone so we can crack the bird open like so.
[102 - 107] Another advantage of having a flat piece of poultry, be it a chicken or a turkey, is that it cooks faster.
[107 - 109] This is going to cook in about 45 minutes
[109 - 113] and a full-sized turkey could cook in as little as two hours.
[113 - 117] And as you can see, to prevent the wing tips from burning, I am tucking them underneath the breasts.
[117 - 121] And that's about all there is to it. Now I'm going to place it on a foil-lined baking sheet,
[121 - 126] top with a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme. This is going to help imbue the meat with
[126 - 130] flavor as it cures in salt for the next twenty-four hours.
[130 - 137] Why the salt cure? Well, because it more deeply flavors the meat, and more importantly, it desiccates the skin.
[137 - 140] The more moisture you draw out of the skin, the crispier it's gonna get.
[140 - 145] For an even crispier skin, you could pre-mix your kosher salt with a teaspoon or two of baking powder
[145 - 147] before refrigerating overnight.
[147 - 153] Now it's time to prepare a mixture of herbs and butter to rub underneath the skin to more deeply flavor the meat.
[153 - 157] I'm going to go with the same herbs as before, rosemary and thyme, but you can mix this up.
[157 - 160] Use sage, use marjoram, or tarragon, or savory.
[160 - 163] No matter what you use, we're going to combine it with some softened butter.
[163 - 168] And because I'm feeling frisky today, I'm going to add a solid tablespoon or two of bacon fat,
[168 - 172] something you should always save from making your bacon and keep it in the fridge.
[172 - 175] You'll notice that I'm not measuring anything, these are all kind of arbitrary amounts.
[175 - 179] You get a feel for how much you need depending on what size chicken you're cooking.
[179 - 184] For instance, if I were making a turkey, I'd probably be making twice as much butter mixture as this.
[184 - 186] Make sure that's all well-incorporated and soft.
[186 - 189] If it's too soft, throw it back in the fridge for a minute until it's firmed up a bit.
[189 - 194] We want it to be a sort of paste-like consistency because we're going to rub it underneath the skin.
[194 - 197] Now, you'll see there's a membrane near the top of the breast that
[197 - 201] we need to gently break through to access the skin below,
[201 - 205] and we want our butter and herb mixture as evenly and deeply distributed as possible.
[205 - 210] So make sure you press as deep as you can so there's more room for flavors and fat.
[210 - 213] We're going to do the same for the thighs and drumsticks starting at the top of the thigh
[213 - 216] and working our way all the way down into the bottom of the drumstick.
[216 - 221] Now, using a spoon and gloved hands, we're going to insert our butter-herb mixture underneath the skin.
[221 - 226] This might seem like a lot of trouble, but you will not believe the difference it makes in the flavor
[226 - 228] and consistency of your roast chicken.
[228 - 231] So make sure you get as much of that stuff in there as you possibly can
[231 - 234] until the underskin is sort of bespeckled with green.
[234 - 239] And because we're kinda going all out here, let's rub the entire thing down with a bit more bacon fat.
[239 - 241] Do you really think that's going to hurt it? I don't think so.
[241 - 245] I don't remember the last time bacon fat hurt anything, except my... arteries.
[245 - 249] Now we've brushed off all the salt that this chicken was packed in so it's plenty salty
[249 - 252] but it still needs a few twists of freshly-ground pepper.
[252 - 256] If you don't have time to dry-brine in the fridge, don't worry about it. Just season with kosher salt
[256 - 260] and roast it 450˚ Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes,
[260 - 263] during which time we're going to make an ultra simple, ultra flavorful, gremolata
[263 - 265] out of the components you see here before you.
[265 - 270] We're going to start by rinsing, drying, and chopping a nice handful of parsley.
[270 - 273] You can see how I'm sort of folding the herbs onto themselves so they're easier to chop.
[273 - 277] After running my knife through them a couple times, I'm going to place my hand on the top of the knife
[277 - 281] and just rock through it until I have relatively finely chopped parsley.
[281 - 283] We're gonna place that in a small bowl,
[283 - 287] and start building what's kind of like a pasta aglio e olio sauce, without the pasta.
[287 - 289] To separate the cloves of some fresh garlic,
[289 - 292] simply press down hard with the heel of your hand on the center of the head.
[292 - 296] This won't work as well with not very fresh or refrigerated garlic, so do us all a favor and
[296 - 298] don't refrigerate your garlic if possible.
[298 - 300] You can quickly peel garlic cloves by
[300 - 304] placing your knife flat on top of it and giving it a little pound with the heel of your hand.
[304 - 306] Be careful, don't be stupid, don't cut yourself.
[306 - 309] Now, you could finely mince your garlic, or if you happen to have one of these babies around,
[309 - 314] a garlic crusher is an easy way to make a quick paste out of a clove of garlic for applications like this,
[314 - 316] like sauces and dressings.
[316 - 321] Next up, using a microplane grater, something that has a wide variety of uses in the kitchen,
[321 - 326] we're going to zest one whole lemon, making sure not to zest down to the white of the lemon,
[326 - 329] but just get the very outside layer of the yellow exterior.
[329 - 331] We're then going to add the juice of the lemon,
[331 - 334] which you can see I'm doing through the loosened fingers of my hand;
[334 - 337] this is catching the seeds while letting the juice flow freely.
[337 - 341] Just like any core component of any given dish, this is going to be seasoned,
[341 - 344] in this case simply with salt and freshly-ground pepper.
[344 - 349] And to bring back a little richness and earthiness, we're gonna throw in some extra virgin olive oil.
[349 - 353] Whisk thoroughly to combine. And after a solid 45 minute stint in the oven,
[353 - 356] our chicken has emerged crisp and brown.
[356 - 361] Cooking time are gonna vary but generally you wanna hit between 155˚ to 165˚ on the breasts,
[361 - 364] and 175˚ to 185˚ in the thighs and drumsticks.
[364 - 369] And as with almost any kind of meat, we're letting it rest uncovered for at least 10 minutes.
[369 - 374] Do not cut into this thing as soon as it comes out of the oven or you will have a juice factory on your hands.
[374 - 377] Now, for an extra hungry dinner guest, or somebody who is super paleo,
[377 - 380] you can cut this guy in half and call it a day.
[380 - 383] But I like to separate it into sort of fried chicken sized components-
[383 - 385] That is to separate the thighs from the breast.
[385 - 389] There are no bones or sinew between these two pieces so removing them should be very easy.
[389 - 393] Generally you can remove the wings by just yanking them right off -- this chicken gets very tender
[393 - 398] after a 24-hour dry-brine -- and then separating the thighs and drumsticks by making a cut
[398 - 403] down between the two, until you hit the joint, pulling it apart, and pressing your knife between them.
[403 - 408] Then, so everybody at your table can get a good variety of meat, I like to cut the breasts in half, width-wise.
[408 - 413] Assemble these guys on a platter, and spoon your gremolata on top or serve on the side.
[413 - 417] I like to put it right on top because it adds for, sort of more pretty presentation.
[417 - 420] You might be worried about your skin's crispness, but this skin is so crispy
[420 - 423] that a little bit of sauce on top is not going to hurt it that much.
[423 - 425] And there you have it, about $15 worth of ingredients,
[425 - 427] an hour or so of active cooking time
[427 - 430] and you've got a main course to feed at least four.
[430 - 435] Or if you're like me and you live alone, single tear :'(, you can eat the thighs and drumsticks as is
[435 - 438] and save the breast for shredding for chicken salad or soup
[438 - 440] No matter how you eat it, this is an amazing way
[440 - 443] to take chicken in its least expensive form factor
[443 - 446] and turn it into something worthy of Sunday dinner.
[446 - 450] So I just want to talk a little bit about designing my new website with Squarespace.
[450 - 454] They have this really intuitive, easy to use platform, that made it super easy,
[454 - 457] even for somebody like me who has never done web design ever.
[457 - 460] They have templates, they do domains, they have really good customer service.
[460 - 464] It's really an all-in-one, one-stop shop for building a really slick website,
[464 - 467] and I was really happy with the way mine came out.
[467 - 470] If you want to try it for yourself, you can start your free trial today at squarespace.com,
[470 - 474] and enter offer code BABISH to get 10% off your first purchase.
[474 - 475] Thanks for listening guys.
[475 - 479] I hope you like the new site, the new show, and I can't wait to cook with you next week.
[479 - 482] This is the final Basics episode of 2017.
[482 - 485] So I'll be seeing you guys next year, when we're gonna take one more look at chicken,
[485 - 488] before delving into all-new topics, like:
[488 - 493] rice, eggs, bread, fish, fruit, and you know every other kind of food that there is.
[493 - 497] I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday, and I'll see you in 2018 for the next livestream.