How to Put a Roast Chicken on the Table in Just 35 Minutes
Sunday-afternoon cooking is a wonderful thing — in the hours before another chaotic work week rolls in, there’s time to prepare: a quiche for office lunches, a large batch of pasta that will get you through the next few days, a poached fish that will last at least until Tuesday. But come Wednesday, the dent you made in your ready-made food stock starts to widen, and by Thursday, you’re lucky if you have half a serving left of that delicious pasta. Enter: the pre-marinated roast chicken.
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Winner winner, chicken dinner. (Photo: Mark Weinberg/Food52)
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This butterflied roast chicken, marinated in a mixture of buttermilk, tarragon, Dijon mustard, and nutmeg (among other herbs), tastes better the longer it sits and soaks in the simple mixture—so if you set aside 10 minutes to prepare it on Sunday, it will be perfect mid-week. Come Wednesday, all you have to do is throw it on the stove for 5 minutes, then into the oven for 30 minutes; the butterflied cut helps it cook that much faster. And since the recipe only takes ¼ cup of wine, you’ll have plenty to sip on while you kick off your shoes and raise a glass to a roast chicken that’s as easy as Sunday morning.
Related: 3 Variations on Pan Sauce for Weeknight Chicken
Buttermilk-Marinated Roast Chicken with Tarragon and Dijon Mustard
Serves 4
¼ cup chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon red peppercorns, crushed (black works fine as well)
3 ½ pounds whole chicken, backbone cut out and butterflied
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 ½ cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
¼ cup dry white wine for deglazing (optional)
Wash and dry your chicken. Using kitchen shears, cut along each side of the chicken backbone and remove it. Turn the chicken breast side up and press on the breastbone to flatten the chicken. Using a sharp knife, cut partway through both sides of the joint between the thighs and the drumsticks. Cut partway through both sides of the joint between the wings and the breast.
Crush your peppercorns by placing them in a small zipper bag and smashing them with a heavy bottle.
Place the dried chicken in a large zipper bag and add the remaining ingredients including the smashed peppercorns, retaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil.
Massage everything together to combine, then place in an additional zipper bag to protect it because sometimes the chicken bones cut through the plastic. Then refrigerate for 1 to 3 days. When you open your refrigerator during that time, massage the chicken and flip the bag over.
On the day you’re ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
Set the chicken in a large skillet skin side up; spoon a little marinade on top and then grab the garlic, peppers and tarragon out of the marinade and spread on top of the chicken. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon peanut oil all over the top of the chicken.
Set the skillet over high heat and cook the chicken until it starts to brown, 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the chicken for 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and the chicken is cooked through.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board or platter. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, deglaze your pan with the white wine. Boil for a few minutes on high heat stirring constantly until reduced in half. Pour the juices over the chicken, cut it into 8 pieces and serve.
Save and print the recipe on Food52.
By Leslie Stephens.
