Roast Chicken is a weekly favourite in our house.
Why not get the most from your bird and turn the left overs into chicken stock?
At the end of the meal, I pop the carcass and any other left overs and bones
into a stock pot.
Into this I toss a chopped onion, a chopped carrot, a spring of thyme,
a table spoon of peppercorns and a teaspoon of rock salt.
Bring to the boil then simmer for about 2-3 hours.
I usually let the pot sit out overnight and drain in the morning.
After straining and chilling, the fat can easily be removed from the top.
Use to make risotto, soup, or add to your casserole.
Homemade chicken stock really makes my Roast Pumpkin Soup
As for roasting the Chook itself, well, this could not be easier.
Make sure you start with a free range chook the right size to feed your family. We find one average sized free range bird feeds our family of four.
Preheat the oven to a hot 200 degrees C.
Pat the chicken dry and stuff the cavity with a halved lemon and a few springs of fresh thyme.
Rub a little butter and salt over the skin and put into a baking tray with a rack, the bird lying on one side. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn to the other side for 20 min
finish with the breast turned up for another 20 min.
Put into a platter and let rest in the, turned off, oven for about 20 min with the door slightly ajar.
We love our chicken with a good dry white wine, piles of lettuce from the garden, peas and some good bread. After reading the Paris Cookbook recently, I am going to add a few cheeses and some sourdough to the table next time as well. This book also suggests squeezing the lemon from the cavity over the carved chicken prior to serving.
Bon appetit!
Trace xx
Yum, we just roast chicken tonight. I put orange rind and parsley in the cavity, it is a nice alternative if you haven't got a lemon.
ReplyDeleteI have always been a little nervous about cooking roast chicken, but you make it sound so simple. My kids love chicken. You may just need to link this up with my easy peasy posts...
ReplyDeleteYum. Thanks for those tips we're having roast chicken tomorrow for dinner so I'll have to give these a try.:)
ReplyDeleteI just cannot bring myself to cook a roast chicken at home, somehow in its full form and the fact that I have to stuff the cavity just gives me the shudders. I already try to give the job of cutting up the fast food version to someone else in the house! And on such a point, I would love to make a homemade chicken stock, do you think it would work with a shop bought and cooked chicken (and thus removing the ickiness of it for me)?
ReplyDeleteWe often make our own chicken stock too (from a store bought roasted chicken - as I dont cook chicken - a serious bout of food poisoning years ago, after eating chicken, means I cant even touch it raw, and I did not eat it for years after this) Your stock versions sounds much yummier than ours, I will try yours next time.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, thanks, I've bookmarked it.
ReplyDeleteI now have a roast chook in the fridge and we have lemons and thyme from the garden - I'll let you know how I go!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking in!