• Ingredients;
  • 1 x 2.4kg chicken, good quality free or organic
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • Maldon salt & black pepper
  • For the sauce;
  • 425ml dry white wine
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • Juice of the reserved ½ lemon
  • 2tblsp chopped thyme
  • Maldon salt and black pepper to taste

Roast chicken is a firm favourite in our house; it’s a dish that we all love.

This is a recipe for incredibly tasty and crisp roast chicken – and it’s very easy and fast. Total preparation time is just over an hour. The lemon and thyme can be omitted if you prefer a plain taste to your chicken, or any other herbs and spices can be replaced in the cavity. Like any recipe this is a starting point and a guide.
it is best to buy decent good quality chicken as it has bags more flavour than a cheap battery one. Get something free-range, it is well worth the money and it tastes so much better!

Method;

Preheat the oven to 230c

Bring the chicken to room temperature about an hour before you intend to cook it, remove the string and open out the joints.

Take 1 half of the lemon and reserve the other for the sauce. Slice the lemon half and place, along with the thyme inside the cavity of the chicken. Place into a roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil and season to taste. Place the roasting tin on the centre shelf of the oven and cook for approx 65mins. At this point test the thickest part of the chicken with a skewer – if the juices run clear it is cooked. If not give it another 5-10 minutes.

Spoon out the lemon slices into the tin, put a wooden spoon into the cavity and, using a spatula to hold the breast end up, tip the chicken and let all the juices run out into the tin.

Transfer the chicken to a warm place in the kitchen, cover with tin foil and leave it to rest for 20mins.

Place the tin over a medium heat and stir the juices over the heat to release any crusty bits. Pour everything to a medium saucepan. Now add the wine, bring it up to a simmer and let it bubble and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and again bring to a simmer and leave to reduce by half. Then add the juice from the reserved lemon half and the chopped thyme leaves, season to taste. If you feel the sauce is still a little too thin, thicken very lightly with a little corn flour.

Carve the chicken and and then serve with rocket salad, garlic and rosemary potatoes all in separate bowls at the table. Add any escaped chicken juices to the sauce then spoon it over the chicken and serve the rest in a warmed jug.