The Perfect Roast Chicken!

I love a good roast dinner, but for me it always has to be chicken as I don’t really eat beef, lamb or pork. And I’m not too keen on game either. So it has to be chicken every time (I’ll make an exception at Christmas and have turkey), but I’m not complaining as I have this little recipe, which produces the most succulent, juicy and flavoursome chicken you could dream of. It’s a pretty standard recipe really but I just add some extra touches that I think really make the difference between an average roast chicken, and mine 🙂

I always, always, ALWAYS make my own stuffing too. It is so much nicer than shop bought stuff, and SO worth that little extra effort.

I don’t restrict this to a Sunday either; I’m not sure where that rule came from but you can have it any day of the week you like! I made this yesterday (Thursday), yes a week night. It actually isn’t as much work as you think it is; it’s basically seasoning a chicken and putting it in the oven, then adding veg half way through. It’s only the cooking time that makes it lengthy, but you can be relaxing with a book during that while the oven does the work! So no excuses – it’s a roast night every night of the week!!

Ingredients:

• 1kg free range chicken (or whatever size you like, adjust cooking time accordingly)
• 1 large onion
• 1 large parsnip
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 lemon
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Plenty of olive oil
• 1 bulb garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
• Greens of your choice (I used mange tout and broccolini)
• Chicken gravy granules (it is a weeknight, but of course make your own if you can be bothered!)

For the stuffing:

• 4-5 slices wholemeal bread, torn up and blended into breadcrumbs
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh sage (or dried)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C (180 fan).

Start by making the stuffing. Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan and add the onion, cook until the onion is soft and fragrant, but not coloured. (If you are using dried sage, add this while you are cooking the onions to release the flavours).

Transfer the buttery soft onions to a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, fresh sage and as much of the egg you need for it to hold itself together (I used about half). Mix thoroughly and stick it all together using your hands.

Then, rub the chicken inside and out with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Be generous! Prick the lemon several times with a sharp knife and put in the microwave for 1 minute. Place the garlic cloves, a handful of thyme and then the hot lemon inside the chicken’s cavity.

Cut off a flat piece of the other onion (the middle section with the sides cut off works well) and place it on a well oiled baking tray, sit the chicken on top. Push the stuffing underneath the chicken around the onion it’s sitting on so that the chicken is surrounded by stuffing and a little is also underneath it.

Place the chicken into the middle of the oven with nothing above it.

Now prep your veg. Chop the potatoes into golf ball sized pieces and boil in salted water for 12 mins. While that’s doing, chop the parsnip and the rest of the onion too. When the potatoes are done, drain and mix with rosemary, salt and pepper and a little olive oil, then shake them around a bit to make the edges fluffy.

Once the chicken is 45 mins from being cooked, add the potatoes, onion and parsnip to the tray. Return to the oven for 25 min. Remove again and turn the veg and baste the chicken. Return the tray back again.

Once the full cooking time is over, remove the tray and let the chicken rest for 15 mins. Meanwhile boil your greens and make your gravy.

Finally, serve everything together on plates, and enjoy!