Roast Chicken Provençal

Methods/Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the packet of giblets from the cavity of the chicken and save for another use, if you like. Pull away any loose fat from around the opening. Rinse the chicken inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Sprinkle the inside of the bird with salt and pepper. Rub the outside of the chicken with the Graisse de Canard Gold®, and sprinkle with the Herbs of Provence and more salt and pepper.

3. Put the chicken, breast side up, on a rack over a roasting pan. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and continue roasting for about 45 minutes for a total of about an hour.  The chicken is done when the leg wiggles freely in its joint and the juices run clear from the thigh when you pierce it with a fork. A thermometer inserted into the lower, meaty part of the thigh should register 170 degrees.

4. Set the chicken on a cutting board, breast side down, and tent it with foil to keep it warm while you make the sauce.

5. Remove the rack from the roasting pan. Tilt the pan, spoon off all but about a tablespoon of the fat, and place the pan on a burner over medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté until is is just tender, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.  Add the mushrooms and fennel and sauté until they have softened, 4-5 minutes more.

6. Pour the wine into the pan and cook until the wine had reduced by half, to about 4 tablespoons.  Add the diluted Glace de Poulet Gold® and bring the liquid to a simmer.  Add the tomatoes and olives and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

7. Add the basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Carve the chicken and serve it with the sauce spooned over the top, sprinkled with more chopped basil.