Chicken baked with French butter

This is a wonderful feast option for those who like chicken. You may make experiments with butter to your taste, while here is a classic option. The chicken will be aromatic and very tender! Besides potatoes, we prepare mushrooms as a side dish to make the feast go ‘lighter’.

Cooking time — 1,5 hours
Complication — medium

In recipe book

Main ingridient: chicken
Category: poultry dishes
Kitchen: french

Cause: for the new year, for the holiday, romantic dinner
Preparation: cook, fry, bake

portions

Ingredients:

Chicken (about 2 kg weight) – 1 pc;
Butter – 200 g;
Champignons – 600 g;
Smoked bacon – 4 slices;
Onion (shallot or ordinary) – 1 small;
Thyme – bunch;
Estragon – 5 twigs;
Parsley – 5 twigs;
Garlic – 2 cloves;
Lemon – 1/2 pc;
Potatoes – 5 pc;
Olive oil;
Salt, fresh black pepper.

Select fat chicken (I had 1.8 kg here) covered with skin without ruptures. Try to select bacon with as less fat as possible. Any mushrooms, not only champignons will suit – pleurotus, cep mushrooms, orange cap boletus… What is more important – they have to be fresh, not frozen!

Step 1

It is better to take out the butter from the fridge in advance and put into the bowl to make it absolutely mild. Take 4-5 champignons and cut finely. Please, pay a special attention to this process! Do not be lazy, the smaller are pieces, the more successful is our result! I do not advise you to use blender as you will get puree. But finely cut mushrooms is exactly what needed for the ideal taste.

Step 2

Cut the bacon the same way. Put mushrooms and bacon to the bowl with butter.

Step 3

Add leaves of thyme from 8-10 twigs, throw “sticks” away.

Step 4

Take estragon leaves and chop them.

Step 5

Chop the parsley and put all the verdure into the bowl with butter.

Step 6

Finely cut the onion and put it into the butter!

Step 7

Press out 2 cloves of garlic. Mix up thoroughly, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put enough salt because this is the only time when we sprinkle the chicken with salt, we won’t do it again.

Step 8

Wash out the chicken, dry it out with paper towel and put carefully on a board. Remove the skin very carefully (I did it with hands) wherever it’s possible (breast and legs) and stuff with butter filler. Coat the chicken from inside with butter.

Step 9

There should be 1-2 table spoons of butter left – we’ll need it for mushrooms.

Step 10

Cut half of the lemon into 4 pieces and throw to the chicken pot belly. Put there two or three cloves of garlic. I recommend tearing chicken legs with a culinary thread (this time I didn’t do that and really felt sorry). Bend the wings behind the back. Put the chicken into the baking pan with edges, sprinkle with olive oil and put to the oven pre-heated until 180 degrees. Note the time.

Step 11

Meanwhile, let’s prepare the side dish. Wash out potatoes with thin skin or peel potatoes if the skin is thick. Cut into big pieces.

Step 12

Boil for 10 minutes.

Step 13

While cooking potatoes, peel the garlic left and cut champignons into 4 pieces.

Step 14

Drain off the water from potatoes and arrange potatoes around the chicken. Put there thyme and garlic, sprinkle again with olive oil and put into the oven. Totally it takes one hour to bake the chicken but it depends on the size of chicken and on your oven. It’s up to you.