Wednesday 10 August 2011

The best roast chicken!

Purely by accident I made the best roast chicken ever.

I had the chicken in the oven for about 35 minutes, so at least 30 minutes to go when my husband called. He was stuck in a meeting and I had to rush to pick up the kids. What to do, what to do?

I hastily covered the chicken with tin foil, reduced the heat from 200 to 160 degrees Celsius and left the house. I knew it would take me about 50 minutes there and back. What's the worst that could happen to the chicken?

It turned out to be the best thing that could happen to the chicken!

Once home, I pulled the chicken out of the oven and checked that the juices ran clear. Then I turned up the grill to give it some colour and crisp up the skin, just 3 minutes or so.

I let it rest with the breast side down for about 20 minutes and once we carved that bird it was perfect. So perfect I couldn't believe it. The skin was crisp. The meat was soft, tender and juicy.

Simply perfection.



Ingredients:
1.1 kg whole chicken
half a lemon
4 garlic cloves
1 white onion
6 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
700 gr peeled potatoes
olive oil (enough to drizzle over the veggies and to rub the chicken)
Jamaican jerk seasoning
salt & pepper



Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Rub the chicken with olive oil, then stuff with half a lemon, half an onion and a clove of garlic that has been bruised.
Now cover with the seasoning of your choice - I used Jamaican jerk seasoning.
In a large roasting tin, combine the potatoes, garlic, onions and carrots and sprinkle with olive oil.
Now place the chicken on top of the potatoes and pop into the oven.
After 35 minutes, remove the chicken and cover it with tin foil.
Reduce the heat to 160 degrees Celsius and roast for another 50 minutes.
(you might need to adjust the cooking time if you have a bigger bird)
Switch the oven to grill and let the chicken grill for 2 or 3 minutes to crisp and brown the skin.
Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest with the breast side down for at least 20 - 30 minutes. Letting it rest like this will let some of the juices flow down to the breasts and make them more juicy.
Serve up and enjoy!!

p.s. I love squeezing the lemon over the chicken - just be careful since it is hot!



2 comments:

  1. Yup, without a doubt, it was the best roast chicken since forever :-)

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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