French Roast Chicken or Poulet Rôti is a classic dish from French cuisine, known for its flavorful crispy skin and wonderful succulent meat. Of all the roast chicken dishes I have tried, the one that literally put me into a food coma was one I had at a French restaurant some years back. One bite and I was transported to heaven! Seasoned with truffle oil, it had a deep intense flavor and the meat was so juicy and tender. I HAD to recreate it at home and that’s how this recipe was born.

What is Truffle Oil?

Truffle is a type of edible fungus (like mushroom) that grows at the base of certain trees like beech, oak, hazel, etc. They are usually found with the help of sniffing dogs and manually harvested. Truffles are expensive because they are hard to find, grow and store – no wonder they are known as ‘Chef’s diamonds‘! This also explains why truffles were part of high cuisine in the olden days, and were out of reach for common folks. Thankfully, some clever minds infused edible oils with truffles – thus creating the more affordable ‘truffle oils‘. These started to be used as alternatives for the actual truffle, making the treasured fungus more accessible to a wider crowd of foodies. Truffle has a subtle musky, earthy and delicious flavor, that can lift any dish to a gourmet level.

There are many varieties of truffles. The two truffle oils that you’ll most often come across are white and black. The former has a garlicky and delicate flavor, while the latter has a more intense and rich flavor. You can use either truffle oil for this recipe depending on your preference.

How do you prepare a chicken for roasting?

Remove the pack of giblets from the whole chicken. Then, stuff the cavity with herbs. I used thyme. You can also use sage. Either way, I wouldn’t put a lot of herbs because the French Roast Chicken I had tasted didn’t have an overpowering herby taste. Also, we want the flavor of truffle oil to stand out.

Loosen the skin at the breast with a dessert spoon, and pour in some seasoning. Massage over the skin to spread the seasoning inside. Then, coat the chicken with the remaining seasoning – you can use your hand, the back of a spoon or a basting brush for this. Tie the legs of the bird together with a kitchen string so that it looks appealing at the end of roasting. Also, tuck the wings under the sides of the chicken to keep the tips from getting burnt.

For this recipe, I do an additional preparation step in the beginning so that the meat is tender and juicy – I brine the chicken.

What is brining?

Brining is a cooking technique in which you submerge the meat in a salty solution (brine) to inject flavor and moisture. This is a technique popular among chefs. To make the brine, you only really need salt and water. The remaining ingredients just add some extra flavor. Even a brine of just salt and water is better than no brine. Be sure to completely cool the brine solution before submerging the chicken or else it may encourage growth of bacteria. When submerged, it’s alright if the chicken is not fully under the solution. What’s more important is that the breast portion is in contact with the solution all through the brining so that it absorbs the brine and stays juicy when roasted.

Do you have to brine a chicken before roasting?

Well, technically no. You don’t HAVE TO. But, I highly recommend brining the chicken before roasting. It just needs a little bit of planning and a few minutes of prep – it’s so worth it! If you haven’t had a brined chicken yet, you’re missing out on some fabulous stuff! It’s the easy way to get that perfectly cooked chicken that’s going to make you feel like a gourmet chef!

Birds generally have two types of meat – the meat in the breast cooks faster than that in the rest of the body, especially the legs. So, there is a chance the legs may get undercooked, or the breast may get overcooked and turn out dry, stringy and bland. Brining gives us an allowance – even if you end up overcooking the chicken, it will still be moist. Also, with brining, you don’t need to keep going to the oven to baste every 5-10 minutes. Pop it into the oven and relaaaax! You’ll be blown away by how juicy a roasted brined chicken is! (Even the breast! Check out the recipe video.)

Why do you add liquid to the roasting pan?

In traditional French cooking, stock is added to the roasting pan so that the meat doesn’t dry out. It keeps the meat moist and succulent. In this recipe, since we are already brining the chicken, this step is not crucial. You can skip it if you want to. But, I like to add liquid to make sure the pan drippings don’t burn and I end up having delicious juices to drizzle over the chicken. So, I add chicken stock (the low sodium kind because the juices from the brined chicken will already have salt). If you have dry white wine or Cognac, you can add that instead. Most of the alcohol goes off with cooking, but it gives a really nice flavor to the pan juices!

Bon Appétit!

Looking for more succulent chicken recipes?

Now that you have a French-style chicken recipe, why not try one from the other side of the world next, like Hainanese Chicken Rice from South-East Asia?