Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme
Katie Barry
Ingredients
1.5kg Free Range Chicken
1 Lemon
1 Fresh Thyme Sprig
75g Butter, Softened
2 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
2 Red Onions, Peeled and Halved
4 Small Carrots, Peeled
1 Leek, Chopped in half
2 Celery Sticks, chopped in half
1 Garlic Bulb, Broken into Cloves (but not peeled)
3 tbsp Plain Flour
120ml White Wine
600ml Chicken / Vegtable Stock
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
Roast Potatoes and Buttered Peas to Serve
Directions
Take Chicken out of fridge 30 mins before it goes into the oven. Preheat the oven to 230 Degrees Celcius (Gas Mark 8)
Finely Grate the ring from the lemon and place in a bowl. Reserve the lemon for later.
Strip the Thyme leaves from the stalks and add to the lemon rind
Mix in the butter with the garlic and then season to taste
Loosen the skin from the chicken breastst starting at the cavety end and working your hand underneath to release. Spread the butter evenly under the skin and lay the skin back down on top.
Slash the chicken legs several times with a sharp knife (this is to help ensure crispy skin once cooked)
Place the onions in a roasting tin wiht the carrots, leeks, celery and garlic, tossing to coat in one tbsp of Olive oil. Sit the chicken on top of the pile of veg and drizzles all over with the remaining olive oil, then season well, rubbing it all over and sight into the slashes
Cut the reserved lemon in half and put it inside the chicken's cavity with the reserved thyme stalks
Place the chicken in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 200 degrees celcius (Gas Mark 6). Roast the Chicken for 1 hour 20 mins, basting the chicken halfway through cooking
When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a board and put the carrots and red onions on a warmed plate
Cover each with tim foil and leave to rest for 15 mins while you make gravy.
Using a large spoon, carefully remove most of the fat from the tin and then place the tin directly on the heat.Stir in the flour and then holding the tin steady, mash up the remaining vegetables as much as possible with a potato masher to release their juices
Pour the wine into the tin and allow to bubble down, stirring continuously to blend the flour in.
Pour the stock in and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.
Take a large jug and set a sieve into it, then pour in the gravy mixture and use a laddle to push all of the liquid and some of the vegetables through with the back of the spoon. Stir in the juices from the resting chicken and season to taste. Transfer to a warmed gravy boat.
Carve the chicken into slices and arrange on warmed plates with the reserved carrots and red onions