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Chicken Comfort Food Dinner Meat Recipes

Garlic Roast Chicken

I didn’t want to make your usual roast, but also with such a good bird I didn’t want to go crazy with flavours. In the end I went for some old favourites – garlic, fresh herbs and citrus.

So I had a beautiful free ranged chicken from The Thoughtful Producer, so I felt I needed to do it some justice.

I didn’t want to make your usual roast, but also with such a good bird I didn’t want to go crazy with flavours. In the end I went for some old favourites – garlic, fresh herbs and citrus.

I smashed up some garlic, oregano, rosemary, a bit of grated lime and butter, then smeared this all over on under the skin. Slashing the legs to get more flavour in. I then stuffed the cavity with a lime and a garlic bulb.

I paired it with some crunchy fries, a crisp salad and some homemade barbecue sauce.

This was a massive 3.3kg chicken, but for a family of four you need something around the 2kg mark. The key with roast chicken is to check it’s cooked, but then allow it time to rest.

Time wise the golden rule is 30mins per kg, plus 20 mins, so for a 2.2kg Chicken:

(2.2 x 30) + 20 = 86 mins or 1 hour 26 mins

Then allow 20 minutes for resting, so if you want to eat at 18:00, you need to switch the oven on at 16:00.

Ingredients

  • Free range chicken, 1.8kg or greater
  • 2 sprigs of fresh oregano or thyme
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • Sea salt
  • 1 lime
  • 25g butter

Equipment

  • Pestle and mortar
  • Roasting tray

Cooking time
30 mins per kg + 20 mins
Rest for 20 mins before serving.

To make

At least an hour before cooking

  • Smash 3 cloves of garlic with a good pinch of salt in the pestle and mortar.
  • Then add the herbs, butter and smash into a paste.
  • Place the bird in a roasting tray, slash the thighs and then rub the butter all over the bird.
  • Halve the lime and stuff this and the remaining garlic cloves in the cavity.

To cook

  • Preheat the oven at 220c
  • Once heated up put the chicken in the oven.
  • After 20 mins turn down to 180c.
  • Walk away do some stuff (if you are making fries they need 45 mins in the oven).
  • 10 mins before it’s ready check the chicken to see if the juices run clear.
  • If or when they do remove from the oven. Place on a clean tray and wrap in foil.

Serve and enjoy.