Ingredients
- 1 whole (8 pound) capon chicken
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
- 2 lemons, cut in half, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs, such as tarragon, thyme or savory
- 1 onion, cut in half
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- Fresh whole herbs, such as tarragon leaves, thyme and savory sprigs
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup sherry
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity and rinse the chicken under cold water, inside and out. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season the body and cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together the butter, lemon juice and chopped herbs. Rub the herbed butter all over the chicken. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic and whole herbs inside the bird. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine to help hold its shape.
Place the chicken, breast side down, on a V-rack in a roasting pan. Cooking the chicken on a rack helps make its skin crisp and keeps it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Pour water in the roasting pan to prevent the fat drippings from burning and smoking.
Roast the chicken for about 20 minutes, then carefully turn the bird over breast side up. It is best to take the pan out of the oven, close the oven door to maintain the temperature, and rotate the chicken on the counter. Baste the chicken all over with the pan drippings. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees F and return the pan to the oven. Continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees to 170 degrees F, count on this taking about 2 hours. Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 15 minutes so the juices settle back into the meat before carving.
Meanwhile, pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a gravy separator or measuring cup to let the fat rise to the top. Skim and discard the fat then return the pan juices back in the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium heat. Add the sherry and deglaze, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with chicken.
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By denniskihlstrom...
on January 17, 2013
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This is a super dish. Capon is like the chicken grandma used to make. The meat was moist and tender. The gravy that I made from the dripping was wonderful. The dripping do need to be separated from the fat, there is more fat than a normal chicken.
The only thing I did different was to brine the capon for about 4 hours before cooking. I like to brine most of the poultry I cook. It seems to make than moister.
By mikedw
on December 25, 2012
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first time I had capon and used this recipe, but also added a can of mandrin oranges. Awesome!
By profjjohnson101
Richmond Hill , NY
on December 25, 2011
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This was our first time cooking a Capon and the bird was beautiful, moist, and very tasty. However, not sure if we had a particularly fat bird, but it sure did smoke a bit for the whole time it cooked, setting off the smoke detector. Ended up with twice the water in the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Instead of sherry, used pineapple juice to make the final glaze, and I did add in a bit of cornstarch (maybe 2 tablespoons for a cup of drippings with juice. It really did come out more like a glaze to top the bird after it was sliced, which was a nice lite alternative to gravy. Also, by accident, didn't turn down the temperature until an hour into cooking, but still finished exactly on time and was perfectly cooked throughout.
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