WINNER ROAST CHICKEN

Last year, one of my bigger goals for 2018 was to learn how to properly roast a whole chicken. A roast chicken is one of those things that sounds simple enough, but when you do make it you’ll realize it’s hard to achieve the criteria that makes a roasted bird perfect – crispy skin, thighs that are cooked through, juicy breasts, and of course, full on flavor. I hate bland roast chicken (I hate bland food full stop).

I wanted to have roast chicken in my amateur cooking repertoire, and after a few trials, recipes and errors, I think I nailed it, guys. This one is slathered in herbs and lemony, juicy with crispy skin. You can use the leftovers in your aglio olio pasta, make a chicken sandwich, boil the bones to make stock, or top your salad. But to be honest, it’s hard to have leftovers for this one.

This recipe makes one whole bird.

What You Need
1 whole medium-sized chicken, cleaned
1 whole lemon
1 bunch fresh herbs – a mix of rosemary, thyme, dill, basil, whatever
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 large onions
1 clove garlic
Some rope to tie the chicken

What You Do

1. Boil some water in a pot. Once boiling, drop one whole lemon in it. Boil for 5 mins. Remove to cool.
2. In either a food processor or a pestle and mortar, pound the fresh herbs, salt, butter and black pepper until you get a rough paste. Loosen it with the olive oil.
3. Now, on to the chicken. Get that boiled lemon and pierce it a few times with a knife. Then stuff it inside the chicken. When it roasts, it will create a lemony steam and the whole chicken will smell like it just came out of the washing machine (kidding. The chicken will smell lemony and fragrant!)
4. Now get that herby paste and stuff it everywhere in between the skin of the chicken and its meat. It’s really easy, don’t worry. The skin and meat aren’t stuck together.
5. Get the rope and tie the legs and wings close to the body. There is no rule to it, just make sure the entire chicken’s body parts are close together so they cook evenly.
6. Slash the meat of the drumstick with a knife, a few slashes will do.
7. Leave the chicken in the fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours.
8. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 180 degrees for 20 mins.
9. Cut the onions in half and arrange them facedown on baking tray. Scatter the garlic. Place the chicken on top of the onions. You do this so that when the juices of the chicken drips, the bottom part of the meat won’t drown in the liquid and become soggy.
10. Put the chicken in the oven, LEGS first. Legs first, ok? Legs cook longer, so it needs to be at the hotter part of the oven (the back). Roast for 60-70 minutes.
11. To know if the chicken is done, pierce the inner thigh with a knife. If the juice comes out clear, girl you nailed it. Otherwise, into the oven for a few more minutes.
12. Remove the bird from the tray. The tray is now full of roasted onions and garlic and lots of chicken dripping. This is your brown sauce! Sieve all that to get rid of the mush, and reheat the brown sauce, adding salt, pepper and 1tbsp flour to season and thicken it. Transfer to bowl.
13. Serve that gorgeous bird with the sauce, and any sides you fancy (my recommendation? Salad and some potatoes). Halve that lemon for anyone to drizzle over their chicken. Congratulations, you are now a roast chicken goddess.

Note: To carve, you should cut off the legs and wings first. Then slice the breast about 1cm thick each. The rest? Just pick at it with your hands. With class, of course.