Master Recipe

Roasted Bone-In Chicken Breasts

serves four

NOTE: If you're short on time, you can skip brining (step 1) and season the chicken generously with salt. We've found that high heat works best, as it cooks the chicken quickly without drying it out and produces a crisp crust. The only problem comes from the smoking fat at the bottom of the roasting pan. To avoid this nuisance, we pour ¹/₂ cup water into the pan 15 minutes into the cooking time.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In gallon-sized, zipper-lock plastic bag, dissolve salt and sugar in 1 quart cold water. Add chicken and seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible; refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1¹/₂ hours. Remove from brine, rinse well, and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With fork, mash together butter and salt and pepper to taste (use salt sparingly if chicken was brined) in small bowl. Rub butter mixture under skin of each chicken breast. Place rack in large roasting pan and transfer chicken, skin-side up, to rack. Brush chicken with oil and lightly season with salt and pepper to taste (use salt sparingly if chicken was brined).

3. Roast for 15 minutes. Add ¹/₂ cup water to pan to prevent excessive smoking. Cook until juices run clear or internal temperature registers 160 degrees when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into thickest part of breast, another 20 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

VARIATIONS:

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Honey Mustard Glaze

Combine ¹/₄ cup Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar in small bowl and set aside. Follow master recipe, brushing chicken with honey mustard glaze when water is added to pan.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Lemon and Herbs

Follow master recipe, adding 1 tablespoon minced lemon zest and 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or rosemary leaves to butter mixture in step 2. Proceed as directed, rubbing lemon-herb butter under skin of each breast.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Porcini Mushroom Paste

Place 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms in small bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let stand until mushrooms are soft, about 20 minutes. Carefully lift mushrooms from liquid, pat dry, and chop finely. (Strain and reserve soaking liquid for another use.) Follow master recipe, adding mushrooms, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves to butter mixture in step 2. Proceed as directed, rubbing mushroom paste under skin of each breast.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Herb Crust

Beaten egg yolks are brushed onto the skin of the chicken pieces to help make the herbs adhere to the skin and to create a nice thick crust. We like the combination of tarragon, parsley, and dill, but mint, cilantro, or even savory can be used in this recipe.

Place 2 cups each loosely packed fresh tarragon leaves, parsley leaves, and dill leaves in work bowl of food processor. Process until finely chopped. Follow master recipe, rubbing butter under skin as directed. Do not brush chicken with oil, but do season with salt and pepper to taste. Brush chicken with 2 lightly beaten egg yolks, sprinkle herb mixture over pieces, and lightly pat herbs so that chicken is evenly coated. Transfer chicken, skin-side up, to oiled rack in roasting pan. Roast as directed in master recipe.

CHICKEN SALAD

Classic chicken salad consists of tender breast meat, pulled apart by hand and bound loosely with mayonnaise. There's a little celery for texture, some parsley or tarragon for flavor, and a squeeze of lemon juice for freshness. We often make this salad from leftover roasted or poached chicken.

So what didn't we know about chicken salad? After a little thought, we had only one question. When making the classic version from scratch, and not from leftover meat, how should we cook the chicken?

Although there were many choices, they basically fell into two camps, wet cooking and dry cooking. The wet cooking methods included poaching, steaming, and roasting in foil (oven-steaming). Chicken cooked by each of these methods had a bland, unmistakably boiled flavor. Roast chicken, which is cooked with dry heat, was a very different matter. The meat tasted roasted and the resulting chicken salad was superb.

Since the skin is to be discarded when roasting breasts for salad, there's no need to elevate the chicken on a rack. It can be cooked directly on the bottom of the roasting pan. You can also get away with a slightly lower oven temperature and thus eliminate the potential for smoking. We found that a little vegetable oil brushed on the chicken helps to keep it moist as it roasts but that butter under the skin makes the meat too rich tasting and not suitable for salad.