Ever since moving back to Malaysia, roast chicken is not something that I often cook. We prefer to have roast beef as it is a guaranteed 100% success every time (moist and tender meat). Don't get me wrong, roast chicken is not difficult to cook, but I often find the roast chicken that I cook here is not as moist as I would have liked it (It's a case of "It's not me, it's the chicken").
This time, we made roast chicken a la Jamie Oliver (with the lemon), using free range chicken ("choi yin kai"). It turned out moist, and the lemon is infused into the meat. Since I usually use all the juices from cooking in my gravy, the gravy tasted of lemon too (hence not recommended to use the lemon if you do not like lemony flavours). My mum recommends that I use Holland chicken the next time for even more moist meat.
I did not use all the root vegetables like Jamie did, as my parents prefer to eat steamed vegetables versus roasted vegetables. But I have prepared them that way before and they're delicious, so try the full recipe if you like.
The gravy is made using chicken giblet stock (adapted from Delia Smith), with the addition of natural juices from roasting.
Jamie Oliver Inspired Roast Chicken
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
Chicken, approx. 1.6kg
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon
Thyme and rosemary
50g butter
Olive oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper
For the gravy
Chicken giblets from the chicken, washed
300ml water
1/2 carrot, cut into chunks
1/2 onion
1/2 celery stalk, halved
4 whole black peppercorns
A few parsley stalks
1. Remove chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before roasting. Preheat oven to 240°C.
2. Prick the lemon several times using the tip of a sharp knife (before that I placed the lemon in the water for boiling the potatoes). Push the onion, garlic and lemon inside the chicken's cavity.
3. Place chicken in a roasting tray, then rub olive oil, salt and pepper all over.
4. Smear the butter over the top of the chicken, to give it a nice crispy skin.
5. Place the chicken on a roasting tin and put in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C and cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.
6. Baste at least twice during cooking to keep the chicken moist.
7. Remove the chicken from the oven, and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
8. To prepare the chicken giblets stock, place everything in a pot and bring to the boil. Skim the surface to remove any scum then gently simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the stock and remove the fat from surface before using.
9. To make the gravy, place the juices from roasting and chicken giblet stock into a small saucepan. Add 1/2 OXO cube to flavour it further and then add 2 tbsp of cornflour (mixed with 2 tbsp of cold water) to thicken the gravy.
9. To make the gravy, place the juices from roasting and chicken giblet stock into a small saucepan. Add 1/2 OXO cube to flavour it further and then add 2 tbsp of cornflour (mixed with 2 tbsp of cold water) to thicken the gravy.
