Linda Fitzpatrick

How to roast a Chicken

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SLOW ROASTED. SUCCULENT. FLAVOURFUL.
A foolproof roast chicken infused with herbs, lemon and garlic,
with the best pan jus for a restaurant class gravy.

The number one step to getting the best out of a roast chicken, is to buy a good chicken. Buy the best chicken you can afford, and don’t be fooled by sticker price either.  When broken down into price/kg, the sticker price of a large free range or organic bird often isn’t a lot more expensive than a cheap as chips small chicken.  And the value balances out when every last crumb of meat is used and the bones boiled down into a collagen rich stock.

I buy a large chicken each week, mostly between 2.5kg to sometimes even 3.5kg (5-7lb) and roast it on a Thursday – a day my family tend to make sure they’re there for dinner!  Roasting a chicken is easy, mainly because the oven does all the work.  But over the years of picking up chickens direct from the farmer, I’ve picked up some great tips too, the key one being slow roasting the bird.

One of the great things about buying direct from producers, is conversations.  And in one of such conversations, one farmer said they always just turned the chicken on low, and left it there til cooked.  And since then I’ve never roast a chicken using the typical faster roast I used to to.  The big advantage, along side a fantastic taste and texture, is there’s little risk of either undercooking or  burning.

I preheat the oven, but not to a hot heat, and cook the chicken on slow, upside down, stuffed with lemon, thyme or rosemary and garlic, and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  I started cooking chickens upside down after I picked up another tip to increase the moistness in a turkey, where the fat from the legs moistens the breast. And I don’t think I’ve cooked a chicken breast up since that either, though I may finish it facing upwards, just for visual browning.

When you buy a more expensive bird, make sure you use every scrap.  This is what we get from the above chicken, and for 6 adults so it’s pretty good going:

  • Thursday dinner
  • Gravy from the pan jus (or save for gel stock)
  • Friday lunch or dinner
  • Chicken pizza base with the carcass pickings.  I’m a bit fussy and wouldn’t eat these bits straight (recipe to come)
  • And a collagen rich chicken stock from the boiled bones.

Slow Roast Chicken

A foolproof cooking method that delivers garlic infused, succulent, flavourful roast chicken every single time.
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Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large roast chicken (cooking time is for approx 2.5kg Chicken)
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 sprig rosemary (or thyme, or both)

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oven to 150.
  • Turn the chicken breast side down in roasting tray.
  • Add the cut clove of garlic, the half lemon, and the sprig of rosemary into the cavity of the chicken.
  • Season with plenty salt and pepper.
  • Cover loosely with baking paper, don't fix at sides, we want to the liquid in the tray but not go for a total steam.
  • Put the chicken in the oven, and turn oven down to 130.
  • Cook for about 2 hours 40 min, turning at about 2 hrs if wished. Retain paper over chicken at this stage. It just stops any risk of burning.
  • If you like a very brown skin, turn oven up for the last 10 min.
  • Remove to a plate, cover with the paper and a teatowl and leave to rest for 10 min before serving.
  • Make a gravy with the tray jus in this sitting time.
Notes
Serving size is somewhat hard to guage, but you will feed 8 with a large bird easily.
I feed 6 dinner, and then have leftovers for lunch,  crumbs to make chicken pizza base, and boil the bones down to make chicken stock for soup or to drink as broth.
If it's cooked to falling apart don't worry just use 2 x fish slices to remove to plate.
To make gravy, strain all the juice from the pan into a heatproof mug or jug, leave stand for a few minutes until oil settles on the top and spoon off the oil.  Add back to a saucepan and add some rosemary, salt and pepper, a splash of white wine, a tbsp cider vinegar or taste and serve.
If you don't want to make gravy, leave the strained pan juice settle and cool, skim off the cooled fat when solid, and use the gel as a flavouring for other dishes during the week.
 
BON APPÉTIT!Tried this recipe? Tag @lindafitzpatrickliving or DM me on Instagram if you've got questions.