Boulevard's roasted free range chicken with glazed young vegetables

by Eat North

While you may think of Vancouver's Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar mostly for its impeccable seafood, it also does an excellent job with the bounty from terra firma. This recipe for roasted free-range chicken from executive chef Alex Chen makes an elegant and comforting dish that's perfect for the weekend.

Chicken jus

2 lbs chicken leg bones, cut into 1" segments
2 tbsp canola oil
1 leek, cut into 1" pieces
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/2" slices
1 white onion, cut into 1/4" slices
2 cloves garlic
1 cup white button mushrooms, cut into thin slices
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
1 cup sherry
8 cups unsalted or low sodium chicken stock
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roast chicken bones for 20 minutes. 

Heat a heavy bottom stock pot on medium high heat. Add oil and bones and roast for 5 more minutes.  

Add leeks, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon.  

Add white wine and reduce until almost dry. Add sherry and reduce again until almost dry. 

Add chicken stock and reduce until 1 cup of liquid is left, skimming often.  

Season with salt and pepper.  

Strain, and discard the bones.

Roasted chicken

1 3.5-lb free range chicken
kosher salt, to taste
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1" dice
1 stalk celery, cut into 1" dice
1 white onion, cut into 1/2" slices
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs tarragon
1 whole leek, cut into 1/2" slices
1/2 fennel, cut into 1/2" slices
6 medium button mushrooms, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
black pepper, to taste
5 tbsp unsalted butter

Heavily season inside the cavity of the chicken with kosher salt. Let sit for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 425° F.  

Mix the carrot, celery, onion (mirepoix), thyme, tarragon, leek, fennel and button mushrooms together and spread out evenly in a roasting pan. 

Rub chicken skin with olive oil and truss with butcher’s twine. Season with salt and pepper.  

Place chicken in the roasting pan. Pierce the skin and set a thermometer in between the breast and leg cavity. Set the thermometer to cook until the internal temperature reaches 160° F. Place in the oven. After 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 350° F. 

Brush chicken with butter every 5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145° F.  

Brush chicken with prepared jus. Glaze at least 4 times until the chicken is fully coated.  

Once the internal temperature reaches 160° F, take chicken out and let sit for 20 minutes.  

Remove the breast and leg from the chicken and set aside.

Vegetables

1/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
1 tbsp unsalted butter
6 snow peas, stringy bits removed and cut on a bias
3 red radishes, blanched in salted water
6 medium asparagus, peeled and blanched in salted water
6 baby thumbelina carrots, peeled and blanched in salted water
6 baby carrots, peeled and blanched in salted water
10 fava bean pods, blanched and shelled
3 turnips, peeled and blanched in salted water
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
lemon juice

Put a 10-inch sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add chicken stock and butter. 

Add all the vegetables and reduce the liquid until almost dry.  

Season with salt and pepper.  

Add a few drops of lemon juice to balance the seasoning. 

Assembly

Arrange the vegetables and chicken neatly on the plate. 

Drizzle the jus around the chicken.  

Garnish with few sprigs of sweet cicely or chervil.

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