Ingredients
The following ingredients have 4 Servings
- FOR THE BUTTER
- 5 tbsp butter, brought to room temperature
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 sprigs of thyme, chopped (about 1 tsp thyme leaves)
- salt & pepper to taste
- CHICKEN
- 1 whole chicken between 4 to 5 lbs, giblet removed
- 4 smashed garlic cloves
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 1/2 of a lemon, cut into half again
- FOR THE SAUCE
- 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil 2 butter
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
- 1/2 chopped thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup cream
- fresh ground pepper to taste
Instruction
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- MAKE THE BUTTER: When the butter has softened, combine it with the other ingredients–2 cloves minced garlic, teaspoon of thyme leaves, salt and pepper to taste. It tends to be a bit hard to stir at first, but work at it vigorously with a sturdy spoon and it will soon be blended into a nice consistency with the ingredients well distributed.
- PREP THE CHICKEN: have a large roasting pan ready. Rinse the chicken and pat dry, and place on a cutting board to do the prep.
- Use your fingers to lift up the skin on the breast a bit. Take about 2 tbsp of butter and insert under the skin, rubbing into the breast meat.
- Rub the remaining butter all over the skin, making sure the chicken is thoroughly coated. Insert the smashed garlic, lemon, 2 sprigs thyme and any remaining butter into the chicken cavity.
- Place the chicken breast side up into a roasting pan, and roast for approximately 90 minutes. Ovens vary, so you’ll want to get a sense of whether you typically need a bit more or less time than recipes call for.
- When the chicken is done roasting, place the chicken on a carving board and let rest for 10 minutes. Save that pan juice for the sauce.
- MAKE THE SAUCE AS THE CHICKEN ROASTS: Start prepping the sauce ingredients after the chicken has roasted for about 45 minutes. Heat the olive oil on medium, and add the shallots. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, stir occasionally. Cook for about 5 minutes until they start to get soft and begin to “sweat”.
- Add the red wine and butter, stir to combine. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so to reduce the liquid by roughly half. After that, keep warm on low heat until the chicken is done roasting.
- After you remove the cooked chicken from the roasting pan, pour up to 1 cup of the chicken roasting juices into the sauce.
- Add the parsley, thyme and pepper after pouring in the pan juices. Simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid, stirring frequently.
