Winter's Last: Tender Roast Chicken & Bread Sauce
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Brine (300g/11 ozs salt dissolved in 5 litres/10.5 pints of water)
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1.5-2kg/3.3lb-4/4lb chicken
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1 lemon
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1 bunch of tarragon
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120g/4ozs unsalted butter, melted plus extra for rubbing into the skin
Bread sauce
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1 small loaf white bread (about 150g/5 ozs once crusts removed) , one day old preferably, crusts removed
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1 litre of milk
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1 onion, peeled and sliced in half
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1 bay leaf
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Freshly grated nutmeg
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a dozen black peppercorns
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salt and pepper for taste
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1-2 tablespoons butter
Step 1 - Prepare the brine by dissolving the salt in the water. Remove fat from chicken and place the chicken and the brine in a large container that can fit both. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Step 2 - Remove the chicken from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the chicken well with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature. The drier the chicken skin, the crispier it will be. I let the chicken rest wrapped in paper towels and then changed them when necessary.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to 90ºC /194F/ gas mark ¼ (yes, really that low). Roll the lemon on the counter to help release the juice and then prick at it with a sharp knife and insert the lemon and tarragon into the cavity of the chicken. Using the melted butter, brush this on top of the chicken and on the sides. Bake for 3-4 hours until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads at least 60C/140F.
Step 4 - Meanwhile, make the bread sauce. Whiz the breadcrumbs in a food processor until you get breadcrumbs. Place the milk in a saucepan along with the onion halves, peppercorns, nutmeg and bay leaf and heat until simmering. Add the breadcrumbs, stirring while it thickens and swells up, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper for taste. For a smoother bread sauce which I prefer (it tastes just like bechamel sauce), blend the bread sauce until smooth and serve hot with some butter to finish it.
Step 5 - Remove the chicken from the oven and turn the temperature up as high as it will go. And take out the smoke alarm batteries again because this baby will smoke. Place the chicken in the oven for 10 minutes until golden brown-watch it, I walked away and the smoke alarm went off! Once the smoke clears, replace smoke alarm batteries.