Monday, April 6, 2009

I **successfully** roasted a WHOLE chicken!


I was browsing Apartment Therapy the other day (www.apartmenttherapy.com) and found this appealing post about an easy and tasty way to roast chicken. Milk, sage, cinnamon stick, and lemon rind. EASY! I put a lid on during the first hour, and left it off for the remainder. This was a suggestion from apartment therapy: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipe-review/the-ultimate-bird-jamies-chicken-with-lemon-and-milk-080388

I have never roasted a chicken before, an entire chicken! I actually didnt know I could....I assumed I needed some special roaster. BUT, I used a pasta pot, and it worked great. It was sooooo yummy. We ate it for dinner again last night. I served it with green beans, couscous, and potatoes. The sauce is really amazing.


The link went to Jamie Olivers site, and here is the recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/meat-recipes/chicken-in-milk

ingredients
• 1 x 1.5k/ 3½lb organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 115g/4oz or ½ a pack of butter
• olive oil
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 good handful of fresh sage, leaves picked
• zest of 2 lemons
• 10 cloves of garlic, skin left on
• 565ml/1 pint milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5, and find a snug-fitting pot for the chicken. Season it generously all over, and fry it in the butter and a little olive oil, turning the chicken to get an even colour all over, until golden. Remove from the heat, put the chicken on a plate, and throw away the oil and butter left in the pot. This will leave you with tasty sticky goodness at the bottom of the pan which will give you a lovely caramelly flavour later on.

Put your chicken back in the pot with the rest of the ingredients, and cook in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Baste with the cooking juice when you remember. The lemon zest will sort of split the milk, making a sauce which is absolutely fantastic.

To serve, pull the meat off the bones and divide it on to your plates. Spoon over plenty of juice and the little curds. Serve with wilted spinach or greens and some mashed potato.

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