Roast Chicken Dinner — Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

1 approx. 4 lb chicken
1/2 lemon
1 shallot (or chunk of onion)
1 stick of rosemary (or other herb)
1 lb red potatoes
1 Russet potato
1/2 stick of butter (or less)
1/2 head of garlic
1/2 cup of milk (or maybe a little more)
1/2 cup of white wine (optional)
4 cups of frozen peas
water
flour
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

For the chicken, put some olive oil in a 10-inch skillet and put the chicken on top. Put in enough salt and pepper to coat the entire chicken, and smoosh the olive oil and seasoning around every surface of the chicken. If you have them, stick a chunk of lemon, a shallot or chunk of onion, and some rosemary (or other herb) into the cavity of the chicken.

Get the oven pre-heating to 400 F (convection, if you have it). Turn a burner on medium under the pan and cook the bottom of the chicken for about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the oven. After about 30 minutes, sprinkle the breast with garlic powder and up the temperature to 425 F. Cook another 15 minutes or until the deepest part of the breast reads 160 F (or 165 if you need to be particularly cautious about food safety).

For the gravy, remove the chicken from the pan to a plate after it's done roasting. If you don't want a ton of gravy, pour off some of the fat (possibly into the mashed potatoes). Turn heat on medium under the pan. Whisk enough flour into the fat to make a thick paste, and cook for a minute until it smells nutty. Deglaze with some water, stock, or white wine, and scrape all the fond from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in some more water or stock until it looks like a very loose sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes until it becomes thick and brown. You could chop up the shallot/onion from the chicken and throw that in, and you could squeeze in the lemon from the chicken if you like lemony gravy. When the gravy looks thick enough, test for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper or anything else you want. Then dilute with more water or stock, accounting for the fact that the gravy will thicken as it cools. Strain it if you don't want the chunks.

For the potatoes, cut the red potatoes into even, big pieces for boiling. Don't peel them. Peel the Russet potato and cut it into slightly bigger pieces than the red potatoes, because the Russet cooks faster. Put the potatoes in a pot of water and boil until you can easily pierce them with a fork. While they're boiling, peel and chop the garlic. Drain the potatoes into a colander and return the empty pot to the heat. Put in a little butter, and fry the garlic until just golden. Put in the milk, get it hot, then put in the potatoes. Put in some of the excess chicken fat and/or as much butter as you want (I do half a stick), a big pinch of salt, then mash until everything is combined. Stir with a spoon (the masher is bad at mixing) and test for seasoning.

For the peas, put the frozen peas into a microwave safe container, cover with water, and microwave until boiling. Strain, then stir in a little butter and salt.

MY COOKING PHILOSOPHY: I don't like weighing or measuring things if I don't have to, and I don't like to be constantly checking a recipe as I cook. I don't care that volume is a bad way of measuring things — it's usually easier. I like for a recipe to get me in the ballpark, and then I like to eyeball and improvise the rest. If you're like me, my goal with these videos is to give you a sense of how the food should look and feel as you're cooking it, rather than give you a refined formula to reproduce.

[aragusea]

Q: Aren't red potatoes bad for mash? Don't they set up like library paste when they cool?
A: Yes, if you only use red. But the mixture of the two types of starches you get by adding in a Russet (or any floury potato) fixes that problem. I like the red skins. Yukon potatoes are nice too, but where I live you can only buy those in giant bags.

Q: What was the brown thing in the frozen peas?
A: A little piece of stem. Not unusual. I took it out.

Q: Why frozen peas?
A: Good fresh peas are really hard to come by. They start losing their sweetness the second you pick them. I speak from experience; I used to grow them. The few times I've gotten fresh peas at the farmer's market, they've been starchy by the time I could eat them. Frozen peas are the greatest frozen vegetable. The farmers/processors are able to pick and freeze them at their peak of sweetness, and the flash freezing process they use really preserves the texture. The times in my life when I've had perfect fresh peas have been moments of divine inspiration, but they've also been few and far between.

Q: Can you be more specific about why you didn't like the breast-side-down method?
A: 1) It didn't cook the dark meat as much as I want, though it did a better job than standard roasting; 2) There wasn't nearly as much good fond, so the gravy was pale and bland; 3) The breast didn't have time to brown as much as I wanted; 4) It was kinda hard to know when to flip it, and the flip was kinda physically tricky. The breast stuck to the pan and the skin tore.

Q: Why didn't you make Yorkshire pud?
A: I'm willing to be proven wrong, mate, but I've eaten many yorkies in the U.K. and in my own kitchen, and I think they're overrated. I think the gravy is a higher use for that fat. But you do you!

Q: Why did you let that lemon seed just drop into the gravy?
A: Because I'm not fussy. Unless it's for a dessert or something, I never worry about catching the seeds. They haven't bothered me yet. But you do you.

Q: I saw some pink flesh in your leg quarters. Are they undercooked?
A: No, they're cooked to smithereens, which is how I like my dark meat. The flesh right around the hip joint will pretty much always be pink, even if you cook it to a really high temp, as I did. This is one of many reasons why color is an imperfect gauge of temperature in meat.

Q: Why is your gravy pale?
A: I wouldn't call it pale; I'd call it blonde, which is how I usually like poultry gravy. You could make yours more brown by cooking the roux for longer. Personally, I really dislike the flavor of brown roux. In the U.K., they're also fond of using additives to brown their gravy, such as a liquid caramel coloring they call "gravy browning." You could also use that, I guess!

END NOTE: I really want to thank everyone for being so positive and supportive about my first sponsorship! Skillshare is a great company, they've been great to work with, and you'd be doing me and yourself a favor if you clicked on the link up top and got your two-month trial. I also want to thank my agent, Colin West, who is out there making a lot of things happen for me with his bad-ass Scottish accent. I put a lot of time and effort into these videos, and it's great to have my labors rewarded via good ol' fashioned commerce. As a long-time journalist, that's a very unusual experience for me!

[Thethirstyhumbug]

Adam's channel is what every YouTuber should strive for, concise and quick but with enough information that you you don't get confused.
Keep it up!

[DCEagle]

yo grats on the sponsor adam, well deserved my man

[WhatIveLearned]

"...though that's not gonna stop me from also putting in a bunch of butter too." My man.

[datOtaku]

Adam I had a dinner party last night, and this dish was so highly regarded that a food critic friend told me that this chicken was better than a restaurant with 2 Michelin stars. And I agree. Literally the best chicken and gravy I've ever eaten by a wide margin. I also made your creme brulee, which also was met with praise! 10/10 recipe!!! Thank you and keep up the stellar work!

[littlegirlblue]

I made this with minor adjustments:
1. I added smoked paprika and thyme to the chicken.
2. I used vegan butter and cashew milk for the potatoes as I'm allergic to dairy.
3. I mixed in sweet corn with the peas because I didn't have enough peas.
Everything turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!

[onlinefriend]

"How to make white wine"

Adam: *Firstly we need some white wine*

[alexischavez]

Adam looking like a chronic alcoholic at the grocery store when he buys 12 bottles of white wine a week

[knizix]

Fun fact: you've watched this like 10 times

[ryanodonnell]

I did this recipe but I seasoned my pan instead of my chicken.

[mitchohriner]

I just *love*, *absolutely love*, how Adam's channel is going so well that he won't even see this comment buried among all the others. And every video has new ideas. And I love that he clearly takes reducing clean up seriously. I cook for kids like him; time washing a cutting board is time I'm not with my kids.

[EllingtonReborn]

Adam: makes wonderful content

Skillshare: i'm about to sponsor this whole mans career




EDIT: holy mother of god the likes....

[lewismenelaws]

Me: "Wow, half way done this video and I see no mention of white wi...."


Adam: 4:41

[mvestal]

Everyone. This man is not The last 4 times I've cooked roast chicken I've done it his way and EVERY SINGLE TIME the chicken was brilliantly cooked (IMO). Crispy skin, thoroughly cooked and juicy inside, super tender dark meat...it was SO good. And all done in a cast iron pan with olive oil, salt&pepper, and a little lemon inside. 10/10 recommend. Thank you Adam!

[lactoees]

“A little olive oil”

*invades iran*

[undercvrwtch]

“How to Make Perfect Pancakes”

Adam: “First, I like to add some white wine to the batter; it’s unconventional, but it tastes great”

[ampz]

I love how he encourages experimenting so much! My mom used to do that too. She'd take a traditional recipe and refine it until it was perfectly delicious and easy to make.

[dxthakid]

This is how many people think that Adam is the best cooking channel on youtube.


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Edit: Thanks for the heart Adam!

[Noone-pkev]

8:04 this man is SO EXCITED for roast chicken dinner I relate on a personal and spiritual level

[eduardopaganotto]

I love how straight forward Adam is with his videos! No beating around the bush, no bla bla bla! Awesome content!