Roast Chook. I honestly don’t think there’s a dinner I find more comforting. Nor do I think a meal exists where you can make less of an effort to create more of a delicious end product – unless of course you’re vegetarian. Sorry bout that…
Firsty, a note on chooks. Buy the best chicken you can afford – for quality and for the fact that organic free range birds live far happier lives and are far healthier for us to boot.
Secondly, promise me you’re never going to ruin a good chook by buying into the ridiculous ‘chicken in a bag’ processed spice packet thingy I’ve seen advertised on TV. What on earth is that? Telling us that roasting a chook is too hard and we need their life-saving chicken-in-a-bag product? Gimme a break. A roast chook with natural ingredients is so easy and if you don’t think so yet, hopefully you shall in a couple of minutes!
Real Food. Happy Bodies. Very little work!
Roast Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.2-1.4 kg chook If yours is bigger, just check the cooking time guide lines below.
- 1 handful flat leaf parsley
- 10 sage leaves
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2.5 tbsp macadamia oil or soft butter
- 1.5 tsp celtic sea salt or other natural salt
- 1/2 zested lemon
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 small small onion, whatever colour.
Instructions
- Take your chicken out of the fridge the minute you walk in the door after work, it will need 15-30mins to take the chill off & promote even cooking throughout the bird.
- Preheat your oven to 200 Celsius. 190 if you have a fan forced oven.
- Pat your chook dry with a tea towel (remember to pop the tea towel in the clothes basket thereafter!) This allows the skin to get nice and crispy!
- You could blitz your parsley, sage, lemon zest, salt and macadamia oil in a mini food processor.
- You could pestle it in a mortar and pestle.
- Either way, smash thoroughly to make a thick pesto-esque consistency, and then grab it in your hands and give the ol’ bird a massage.
- Then pop the 1/2 lemon, garlic and onion inside the bird and she’s ready for the oven.
- Pop the chook in, Breast side down, for 20 minutes, then breast side up for 40 minutes for a bird around 1.2-1.4kg. Grab the juices with a spoon when you turn her over and baste the new side up.
- If your chook is a bit bigger than 1.5 kg, add 10 minutes to the cooking time, making it half an hour breast side down, then turn over for a further 40 minutes
- The flavour pops on this and gets right through the meat and juices. The skin is too tempting to leave, and rightly so. Did you know the fats in the skin help you digest the proteins? Nature intends things a certain way and I like to obey nature, especially when it’s so delicious! Spoon a little of the pan juices over your dinner for fragrant, herbaceous deliciousness.
- What to serve with the chook? How about honey roasted carrot purée and some zucchini, spinach and corn! Those you can rustle up after you’ve popped the bird in the oven, then had a shower, helped the kids with homework and polished off a cheeky glass of red!
Comments 3
A trick I have up my sleeve when I know I’ll be back late and we need to eat asap – is to pop the chicken into the slow cooker – 4 hrs on fast 6-7 on slow. I sit it on some foil to give it a throne and throw in a little stock and wine to create steam then let it do its thing. The smell that hits you when you walk into the house is beyond divine -= and all you need to do is take the chook out and pop it under the grill for 15 minutes to crisp it up! Yum – it’ll be moist as anything and ohh so delish!!! I love my slow cooker!!!
Author
Love the sound of that, thanks for sharing Jos! I sometimes pot roast a whole one in water & stock veggies all day while at work – instant & luscious chicken soup when home, with the addition of some corn, green veg and sometimes coconut milk.