Party in Your Mouth Roast Chicken

My mouth had a party, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium chicken
• 2 large white onions
• 100g butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• Big handful of any fresh green herbs! (I used chives, parsley and coriander because they’re in my garden, but pretty much any combination will deliver freshness and flavour – ask me if you’re not sure!)
• 2 lemons
• Salt
• Black pepper

It’s easier to make the butter in a food processor but you can do this by hand if you don’t have one (Christmas is coming, so stick one on your list).

Method:

• Pre-heat your oven to 210 degrees of gas mark 7.
• Mash or blend the butter with 2 cloves of garlic, the juice and zest of lemon, herbs, oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Carefully slide a spoon underneath the skin of the chicken breast to make a pocket for the butter. Take your time so you don’t rip the skin.
• Score each chicken leg once with a sharp knife.
• Push a tablespoon of butter under the skin of each chicken breast, then push the mixture up the breast so it gets right under the skin.

• Rub the rest of the butter all over the chicken using your hands.
• Half the other lemon and push the halves in to the cavity of the chicken.
• Slice the onions and lay them out on the bottom of the roasting tin, then bash the remaining garlic cloves and throw them on top. Give the onions a good season with salt and black pepper, then drizzle a bit of oil over the top.
• Sit the chicken on top and season with a bit of salt, then cut a lemon in half and push in to the cavity.

• A medium chicken will take about an hour, but during the cooking time, take it out and tilt the tray so the juices gather at one end. Spoon this juice over the top of the chicken a couple of times during cooking – it will give even more flavour and keep the breast moist.
• Once the cooking time is up, take the chicken out and cover loosely with foil for at least 15 minutes.
• You can make a gorgeous gravy by adding some water, stock or wine to the roasting tin. Let it bubble away to deglaze the tin (I do this by putting the roasting tin directly over a couple of the gas hob rings). Add some flour to thicken or just use some gravy granules if you’re in a rush.
• Tuck in!