Full Chicken Roast | Holiday Recipes

December 22, 2016 | 1 Comment

I know everyone’s got their own roast recipe — but here’s mine. I promise you, it’s epic. Whenever I put aside the two hours it takes to make this dish, I am in my family’s good graces for quite a while.

This is my final of four holiday recipes, but obviously, even if you’re not gearing up to celebrate any holidays this winter, these recipes are great for dinner parties or prepared separately for lunches and dinners.

Previous dishes: Mint Pesto, Lamb Meatballs and Freekeh Salad.

I made a herbed butter to slather my chicken in, and it’s part of what makes it so moist and delicious.

For the chicken:

You will need:

1 whole chicken, skin on
1 lemon
60-80g butter
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp chopped dill

Mix everything other than the chicken and lemon together.

Once your butter is ready, it’s time to get your hands dirty. Wear gloves if you’re easily grossed out!

Go in under the skin of the chicken and pack in your butter, making sure to push it in as much as possible. With what’s left over, smooth it out over the top of your chicken. Add some freshly cracked black pepper and a generous few pinches of salt. Prick your lemon with a knife and stick it in your chicken.

Pour about a centimetre’s worth of water into your roasting tin, then cover it up with aluminium foil and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes.

While that’s cooking, let’s prep the veg.

For your vegetables:

Chop four carrots.

Chop 4-5 small potatoes.

Halve two handfuls of Brussels sprouts. Note: if you don’t like sprouts, put them in anyway. I promise I’ll convert you.

Spices:

1 1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp chilli powder

Mix them all together in a bowl, adding four cloves of crushed garlic and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. One to two tbsp should be about right.

Once the 45 minutes are done:

Take your chicken off your roasting tin, and pop your vegetables in, leaving a small gap in the middle for the chicken. This is mostly so that all the vegetables crisp up.

Pop your chicken back on, but make sure to flip it over, in order to cook it evenly and keep the moisture distributed throughout. Put it in the oven, covered with foil, for another 20 minutes.

While that’s cooking,

For the sauce:

You will need:

A big handful of chopped dill
2 diced tomatoes
1 diced onion
3 cloves of garlic, diced
2cm of ginger, diced
2 tbsp of tomato paste
1 tbsp cumin powder

Fry off your onions in a little oil until translucent, then add the ginger, garlic, and spices. Then add your tomatoes and finally the dill until all well combined. Salt to taste.

Once 20 minutes are up:

Take the foil off your chicken, and cook for another 30 minutes uncovered, and…

viola!

Set your table.

Serve up, and enjoy! I added some pomegranate seeds because I love the pop of freshness there. My family genuinely went crazy for this dish, and I’ll be making it again on Christmas Day for a friend.

It’s a time-consuming dish (takes the two hours it’s in the oven), but it’s reasonably simple.

Let me know if you make this, I would love to see how it turns out for other people.

As always, bilafiya (well wishes and wellbeing)

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Christmas Day Roast, Trimmings & Gooey Cookies | What I Eat in a Day #16 says:

January 1, 2017 at 7:15 pm

[…] the roast chicken recipe, go here and for the Winter Freekeh Salad recipe, go […]

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