Grydestegt Kylling

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed pot with lid, just large enough to hold the chicken, around 5 to 6 litres
• •Two wooden spoons for turning the chicken
• •Meat thermometer
• •Fine sieve for straining the gravy
• •Warm serving platter and gravy jug

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the chicken

   Take the chicken out of the fridge at least an hour before you start. A cold chicken going into a hot pot will not brown properly and the meat will cook unevenly. Pat the skin completely dry with kitchen paper. Any moisture on the surface becomes steam, and steam is the enemy of a golden crust. Season the cavity and the skin generously with salt and pepper. Be more generous than you think. A whole chicken is a big piece of meat, and timid seasoning disappears.

   Dry skin is the single most important detail. Run the paper over it until it feels almost papery to the touch.
2. 2

   Stuff with parsley and butter

   Wash the parsley and dry it thoroughly. Stuff the whole bunch, stems and all, into the cavity of the chicken along with about 30g of the cold butter cut into cubes. The parsley perfumes the meat from the inside as it cooks, and the butter melts into the cavity and bastes the chicken from within. This is the quiet trick of grydestegt kylling. The flavor comes from within as much as from the pan.

3. 3

   Brown the chicken

   Heat a heavy pot just large enough to hold the chicken over medium-high heat. Add the oil and 30g of the butter. When the butter is foaming and starting to smell of hazelnuts, lower the chicken in breast-side down. Don't move it for three or four minutes. You want a deep golden crust, and a crust only forms when the skin makes unbroken contact with the hot fat. Turn the chicken carefully onto each side and then onto its back, browning every surface to a rich mahogany. This takes about fifteen minutes in total, and it is not a step you rush. The color you build here is the color of the finished dish.

   Use two wooden spoons to turn the chicken. Tongs tear the skin, and torn skin means lost crispness.
4. 4

   Pot-roast gently

   With the chicken breast-side up, pour in the stock around the bird, not over it. Pouring over the chicken washes away the crust you just worked for. Bring the liquid to a soft simmer, then lower the heat until the surface is barely trembling. Put the lid on, slightly ajar so steam can escape, and let the chicken cook gently for forty-five minutes to an hour. Baste it with the pan juices every fifteen minutes. The butter and fat that gather on top are your basting liquid, and each spoonful keeps the skin glossy and the breast from drying out. You'll know when it's right when the juices from the thigh run clear and a thermometer reads 74C at the thickest part.

   The simmer should whisper, not bubble. A hard boil toughens the meat. A soft tremble keeps it tender.
5. 5

   Rest the chicken

   Lift the chicken carefully out of the pot and onto a warm platter. Tip it slightly so any juices from the cavity run back into the pot. Cover loosely with foil and let it rest for at least ten minutes. Resting is not optional. If you carve it straight away, the juices run out and the meat goes dry. Ten minutes of patience is the difference between good and very good.

6. 6

   Make the gravy

   Put the pot with its juices back on medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. This is your thickener, and whisking off the heat keeps it from turning lumpy. Pour it into the simmering juices, whisking constantly. Add the cream and the teaspoon of redcurrant jelly. The jelly is the quiet Danish touch that rounds out the gravy with a faint sweetness. Simmer for three or four minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste and season with salt and pepper. If you want the classic deep brown color of brun sovs, add a few drops of kulor. Strain the gravy through a fine sieve into a warm jug.

7. 7

   Carve and serve

   Carve the chicken at the table if you can. Pull the parsley from the cavity and scatter some of it over the platter. Serve with boiled new potatoes, a bowl of cool agurkesalat, the warm gravy, and a small dish of lingonberry or redcurrant jam alongside. The jam goes on the plate, not on the chicken. You eat it with a forkful of meat and potato, and the sweetness lifts everything. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the best chicken you can. A free-range bird from a good butcher tastes of something. A cheap supermarket chicken tastes of the pan. This is a simple dish and there is nowhere for a bad chicken to hide.
• •The parsley in the cavity is not a garnish. Use a whole generous bunch and leave the stems on. The stems carry most of the flavor, and they perfume the meat as the chicken cooks.
• •If you can find kulor, the dark Danish browning sauce, use a few drops in the gravy. It's just caramelized sugar and water, but it gives the sauce the deep brown color that Danish eyes expect from brun sovs.
• •A cold Danish pilsner is the drink alongside this. Nothing clever, nothing oaky. The bitterness cuts through the butter and the sweetness of the jelly.

Advance Preparation

• •Take the chicken out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking. A cold bird will not brown or cook evenly.
• •Agurkesalat is best made a few hours ahead so the cucumber has time to soften in the vinegar. Start it before you start the chicken.
• •New potatoes should be boiled in well-salted water just before serving and tossed with a knob of butter and chopped parsley while still hot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)