Sometimes there is nothing nicer than the classic roast chicken. A popular choice for the Sunday dinner table across the country, the combination of the nation’s favourite meat, with a crispy skin is something for all the family to look forward to. Fresh from our visit to Belfast’s St Georges Market, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice Sunday roast, using a whole chicken picked up on the day. We married our chicken with a lemon and parsley infused butter, to achieve the perfect crisp skin, and a tender moist chicken. To accompany this chicken we served up a helping of cubed rooster potatoes marinated in lemon, garlic and sage. Here’s how we did it.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- 6 – 8 medium to large potatoes (cubed)
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 50g butter (at room temperature)
- handful fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp dried sage
- 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 whole onion
- seasoning
Serves 4 people
Prep time: 20 – 25 minutes
Cooking time : 75 – 90 minutes (depending on size of chicken)
1. Prepare the chicken:
Pre-heat your oven to 200C. Rinse the chicken in cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Gently ease the skin away from the breasts to create a pocket under the skin. Now it’s time to make the lemon parsley butter.
Using a fork, mix the butter with the zest of a lemon, half of the lemon juice and the chopped parsley. You will use the remainder of the lemon juice in the cubed savoury potatoes. Mix the butter as best you can; don’t worry if all the lemon juice doesn’t mix in. Using your hands (be sure to clean them), fill the breast pocket with half of the lemon butter, and spread the other half over the outside of the skin and over the chicken thighs. Any juice remaining from the lemon parsley butter can be poured into the cavity of the chicken. Cut you onion in half and put it into the cavity of the chicken for extra flavour. Put the chicken into a casserole dish and set it in the centre of your oven. Turn your temperature down to 180C for the cooking process and keep in the oven for between 75 and 90 minutes depending on the size of your chicken.
Top tip: We put our chicken inside a roasting bag as this helps to steam the chicken in it’s own juices, whilst still allowing the skin to crisp up. Put a couple of slits in the bag to stop it from bursting.
2. Prepare and cook your cubed potatoes:
Cube the potatoes and leave the skin on and set them in a roasting tray. For best results we recommend using Rooster potatoes. Make the marinade for the cubed potatoes using the remaining lemon juice, the garlic and the sage. Add seasoning to this and pour over the potatoes. Using your hands, mix the potatoes and ensure they are covered in this marinade. Leave this to sit for 10 minutes.
Put the potatoes in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes until golden and crispy. You should stir them halfway through the cooking process.
3. Serve and enjoy:
Remove the chicken from the oven and test to ensure it is cooked right through. Pierce the chicken with a skewer and pull it out. Firmly press against the chicken with the side of the skewer and if the juices run clear from the hole that has been made, the chicken is cooked. The chicken will be sitting in it’s own juices, infused in lemon parsley butter. Spoon some of these juices over the chicken and place the chicken on a large serving plate or board.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and spoon these around the chicken. Slice your chicken and serve your cubed potatoes and enjoy. Spoon any remaining juices over your plates.
Additional serving suggestions:
- Roasted Mediterranean vegetables
- Roasted parma wrapped asparagus
Chicken is the nations favourite meat, but what is your favourite meat when it comes to serving up a family feast over the weekend. Let us know by commenting below. Remember you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with our latest recipe ideas.
