Chicken Chicken is a most rewarding dish, with which you can do practically anything, at any moment, in any way. William Randolph Hearst made it a rule that in every one of his numerous homes, there should ALWAYS be a cold roast chicken in the icebox. He might not visit that particular home for two years . . . but such was his power that 365 days of every year, a chicken was roasted tenderly and placed in readiness for his coming. . . .Although the story goes that Mr. Hearst's servants grew very tired of eating up cold chickens, there is little doubt that under ordinary circumstances anyone would feel himself a millionaire if he could only open his refrigerator at any moment to discover within—a cold roast chicken! Chicken, like shrimp, is good for any course but dessert. It can be absolutely plain-cooked (boiled, broiled, steamed, roasted) or it can be entirely a matter of its sauce . . . and almost nothing responds so amiably to the window-dressing of herbs, spices, wines, sweet and sour, minced vegetables and all the other gourmet tricks.  Chicken dishes, for this reason, often seem similar . . .because many of them start with disjointing and browning broiler sections. For instance: CHICKEN NICOISE, NANTAISE, BENEDICTINE In these great French dishes, all depends on the end-flavor you desire, for all are merely special sauces for sauteed chicken. All chicken dishes will require every scrap of your quick cookery time allowance—plus an extra 5 or 10 minutes sometimes, to create a really tender piece of chicken (depending on the bird). In, each dish, the first step is to brown chicken parts. If you start with the entire small chicken, set aside neck and back sections which merely take space in the pan and are not too rewarding on the plate. If possible, buy the chicken parts you personally prefer, whether breasts or thighs and legs. To Start the Dish Wipe chicken sections on paper toweling, melt 1/4 cup butter in a large frying pan, and brown the chicken over medium-high heat. Reduce the flame, cover tightly and continue to cook chicken while making the sauces.