plain jane cooking - recipes for the novice:

roast chicken

ingredients

chicken garlic cloves or sage leaves butter carrot

1 5 100 2

pc pc gm pc

production

1. Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry (ensuring there are no giblets left inside the bird)
2. Season the inside and place a whole or half a peeled onion inside
3. From the cavity end (where the stuffing normally goes) place fingers under the skin, to form a cavity between the skin and the breast
4. Crush the chosen herb and place under the skin along with the butter
5. Brush the skin with a little oil and season
6. Wash and peel carrots and cut in half lengthways, place on the bottom of a roasting tray (this is known as a trivet, it allows the hot air to circulate and prevent the base of the chicken from burning)
7. Place the chicken on the trivet and place into a pre heated oven (180°C)
8. Roast until cooked: approximately 90 minutes (see chef notes)
9. Remove from the oven
10. Remove the chicken and the carrots from the roasting tray and allow to rest on a clean tray for five minutes prior to carving
11. Make the gravy (jus lie) in the roasting tray
12. Serve as required

chef notes:

To ensure the chicken is cooked thoroughly, after one hour cut
through the skin that joins the legs to the breast and pull down slightly
to reveal the thigh joint.

This thigh joint tends to be last place heat penetrates to and therefore
is the last to cook, meaning the breast and overcook and dry out. By allowing the heat to penetrate as above the breast and thigh meat can cook and be ready at the same time.

email chef@tallyrand.info