Two-tray roast chicken leg dinner with mixed roast vegetables and chicken jus

If the leg quarters still carry the backbone, slice deep along it, open the thigh socket, cut through the middle of the joint and then down through the skin.

Mix the salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder and poultry seasoning into a chicken dust.

Season each leg over a bowl with four to five large pinches until evenly covered, reusing what falls off; use all of it across the four pieces.

Slow roast at 300F for 75 minutes.

Medium chop the onions; cut the carrots oblique to about an inch and a quarter; large dice the potatoes; chop the fennel to the onion size.

Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and salt.

At 75 minutes the fat under the skin has rendered, the surface moisture has evaporated and the thigh is at least 160F.

Oil the chicken skin and return it to the oven raised to 450F, alongside a second preheated and oiled tray holding the vegetables spread out with the potatoes in contact with the metal.

Roast both for about 20 minutes at 450F.

Melt the butter in a warm sauce pan, whisk in the flour and cook the roux 30 seconds to take off the raw flour taste.

Whisk in the chicken stock and the bouillon base, bring to a spirited simmer and cook about two minutes over medium until it thickens; leave it slightly under-seasoned because the drippings will bring salt.

Pull the chicken after 20 to 25 minutes and check the deepest part of the thigh; 185F is tender enough to shred off the bone.

Finish the vegetables under a high broiler at about ten inches for five to ten minutes, stirring once, until caramelized.

Add half a cup of water or stock to the chicken tray and scrape the fond up with a wooden spoon, warming the tray on the stove to release it.

Pour the deglazed drippings into the sauce base.

Return the sauce to heat, stir in the drippings and bring to a simmer to thicken and heat through.

Plate the mixed roast with a leg and spoon the jus over.