- The meat is juicy, the skin is crispy.
And let me just tell you, the showstopper is the gravy.
It brings everything together.
Mm, mm.
Hey everybody, it's your girl, Meiko.
Food blogger and recipe developer
over at Meiko and The Dish.
You can catch me on Instagram, @meikoandthedish.
I think one of the most essential recipes
that everyone needs in their arsenal
is a good roasted chicken.
Today I'm gonna show you all my tips
and tricks to make the perfect, crispiest,
juiciest, most flavorful roasted chicken.
And I'm gonna show you how to make
a homemade gravy to go with it.
All right, y'all, let's get cooking.
The key to achieving the most juiciest
and golden brown chicken truly is even cooking.
My preferred method is spatchcocking.
And that's just where you flatten out the chicken
so that it's the same thickness all around.
I'm like a doctor.
(snapping glove)
Before you get started spatchcocking,
make sure that you remove the giblets.
These are going to be used later for our gravy,
so just set those aside.
I'm going to take my bird and place it
right on top, breast side down.
So you can see the back bone here,
what we're gonna do is cut along each side
of the backbone to remove it.
I find that the first cut is always the hardest,
so I use both hands to break through.
Do the same on the other side of the background.
All right, there goes our backbone.
I'm gonna save this as well.
What we wanna do is flatten the breast.
So we'll flip over the chicken,
and I like to place the thighs going outward,
and get my hands securely in between the two breasts,
and press down.
You should hear a nice crack of the breastbone.
(bone cracking)
And that's how you spatchcock a chicken.
It's really that easy.
So before we keep going, I'm gonna show you
how to make my homemade adobo spice seasoning.
So you can season any way that you like.
Do you boo, just make sure that you season liberally,
it needs to pack flavor.
I'm gonna start off with some tumeric,
oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and salt.
And all you have to do is mix those together.
All right, now that everything's mixed together,
it's all done, now you have homemade adobo seasoning.
We'll add this to our chicken.
All right, all right, let's go.
We're gonna take half of our adobo spice
and add it into the back cavity.
And while you're doing this
I wanna make sure that you are paying attention
to every single crevice of this chicken.
And don't be shy, rub it in.
There is nothing more disappointing
than a under seasoned chicken.
Let's flip the bird over.
There's two more steps that I need to take to ensure
that I have a crispy bird.
First, I take a skewer and I poke the skin all around.
This is going to create channels
for the fat to release, and crisp up the front of the skin.
Next I'm going to reposition my bird.
So I just use my fingers
to separate the skin from the meat.
I do that over the breast area,
and I also do it over the thigh.
And this is going to create a pocket.
I'm gonna take some of this clarified butter
and spread it under the skin.
And I just use my fingers to help guide it all along.
Now it's time to season the top of the bird.
Get it all over.
Oh this girl is seasoned, okay.
Now that my chicken is fully seasoned
I'm going to transfer it to a greased rack.
I'm putting my chicken in the fridge
anywhere from an hour to 24 hours,
just to make sure those seasonings
really penetrate the bird.
My bird is ready to roast, but remember,
take it out from the fridge 45 minutes ahead of time
to make sure that it gets to room temperature.
This bird is gonna roast at 475 degrees
for about 50 minutes.
While the chicken is roasting
it's the perfect time to make a gravy.
So remember those innards
that I told you to set aside earlier?
I boiled them down until they were nice and tender,
and now I'm gonna use them to flavor my gravy.
I like to chop them up really finely
so that they incorporate nice and smoothly into my gravy.
I'm adding butter to a sauce pan and just letting it melt.
Now I'm gonna add some onions and some garlic.
I'm gonna let the onions and garlic cook for one minute
until they're nice and soft.
That looks good.
Now I'm gonna add my flour.
Looking good, let's add our chopped giblets.
(pan sizzling)
Now I'm gonna switch to a whisk
and I'm gonna add in my stock.
(pan sizzling)
Finally, I like to add worcestershire sauce.
It ah, worcestershire, worcestershire.
Finally, I like to add worcestershire sauce.
It adds a deep umami flavor and rounds out the gravy.
Now that my gravy has reached a boil,
I'm gonna add in my bay leaves.
Reduce the heat to low to let your gravy thicken,
then add salt and pepper to taste.
(upbeat music)
Mm, that is perfect.
So now I'm going to set this aside and get my chicken.
My chicken is out of the oven,
it's been resting for about 10 minutes.
You guys, the skin is nice and crispy,
the color is golden brown.
It is perfection.
All that's left to do is to carve it.
To remove the leg quarter I grab the leg
and pull it up away from the body.
And then I slice right between the leg and the body.
Uh huh, that simple.
You can actually see the indentation
of the center breastbone.
I'm going to follow along that breast bone
and cut just to the side of it.
Guys, and that's it.
That's how you easily carve your chicken breast.
All that's left to do is add that homemade gravy
that I made earlier right over the top.
Guys, I have been waiting hours to try this chicken,
I am so excited, it is time to dig in.
Mm.
Mm mm mm.
I actually have a chef's tear.
The chicken is so juicy, the skin is so crispy.
This chicken is incredible.
But don't take my word for it, try it out for yourself.
This is worth your time.
So, so good.
That's it guys.
Today, I showed you how to make the perfect roasted chicken
and a delicious homemade gravy to go with it.
If you like this recipe, leave a comment down below
let me know what you think.
Or shoot me a message on Instagram @meikoandthedish.
Until next time.
Peace.
- [Man] Oh, yes.
(upbeat music)