Orange-Thyme Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds baby-cut carrots thick rinsed peeled (max)
• 6 lb meat from a rotisserie chicken 
• 0.5 cup cooking sherry dry
• 1 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth 
• 3 tablespoons thyme leaves fresh chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 2  oranges rinsed
• 3 pounds thin-skinned potatoes dried red scrubbed (each)
• 8 servings salt and pepper 
• 1.5 pounds shallots peeled (each)
• 6  to 8 thyme sprigs rinsed
• 0.5 cup whipping cream 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• sieve
• kitchen thermometer
• spatula
• slotted spoon
• carving fork

Directions

1. Remove giblets from chicken and reserve for other uses. Pull off and discard lumps of fat. Rinse bird well inside and out; pat dry. If desired, fold wing tips under first joint. Set bird breast up on a V-shaped rack in an 11- by 17-inch pan.
2. Grate 2 tablespoons peel from oranges.
3. Cut oranges in half crosswise and ream juice; you need at least 2/3 cup. In a small bowl, mix grated peel and thyme leaves. Starting at the neck, gently ease your fingers under chicken skin to loosen it over breast. Push 3 tablespoons orange peel-thyme mixture under skin and spread evenly over breast.
4. Place 2 orange halves (discard remainder), 4 thyme sprigs, and 2 shallots in body cavity.
5. In a bowl, mix remaining shallots, the potatoes, and carrots with olive oil. Distribute vegetables around chicken in pan.
6. Pour 1/3 cup orange juice over chicken.
7. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper.
8. Roast in a 425 regular or convection oven until vegetables are well browned and tender when pierced and a thermometer inserted through thickest part of breast to bone reaches 170, or 180 through thickest part of thigh at joint, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours. After about 30 minutes, turn vegetables with a wide spatula. If pan juices start to scorch, pour about 1/4 cup water around edge of pan and stir to scrape drippings free, mixing with vegetables.
9. Insert a carving fork into the body cavity, piercing carcass; lift bird and tilt to drain juices into pan. Set chicken on a rimmed platter. With a slotted spoon, lift vegetables from pan and arrange around chicken.
10. Let rest in a warm place about 15 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, skim and discard fat from pan.
12. Add sherry, broth, cream, and remaining orange peel-thyme mixture and orange juice. Stir often over high heat, scraping browned bits free, until reduced to 1 cup, 8 to 10 minutes.
13. Add salt and pepper to taste.
14. Pour through a fine strainer into a small pitcher or bowl.
15. Garnish platter with remaining thyme sprigs. Carve chicken and serve with vegetables and sherry-cream sauce.
16. Add salt and pepper to taste.