The Reality: Well, given that this first post is already 3 days late, and from memory, expect a weekly dose of garbled recollections, weak excuses, and outright lies.
Saturday 3rd October
The Recipe comes from John Burton Race's Flavour First, p.187 - Roast Chicken with a Lemon, Thyme and Garlic Butter.
Accompanied by:
- mashed sweet potatoes and parsnips
- roast, quartered carrots
- generic 2008 Chablis
Right, let's get to it.
The first sign it might be tasty was that the butter/lemon zest/thyme/garlic mixture smelled amazing while I was making it.
I ran into my first spot of bother when the recipe called for the skin to be loosened "working from the neck end" and the butter to be packed beneath it against the breasts, and then pressed down firmly. (Steady...)
I reasoned (rightly I think) that the butter mixture was to keep the meat moistened and seasoned, while allowing the skin to crisp. It is important, however, to loosen the skin far enough back that you can both put all the butter under it, and also completely cover the breasts, otherwise you get the slightly lop-sided effect characteristic of bad cosmetic surgery, and evident below. Also, it's easiest to pack the butter in while the chicken is standing on its arse-end, rather than lying flat.
Of course, you have to close up the back of the chicken too, otherwise all the moisture escapes that way. One option is stuffing. Here, we just economically push in the two halves of the lemon one grates for the zest, after lobbing the squeezed juice into it, to keep the moisture content high. I think I managed to effect an airtight seal, which had the small potential to go horribly wrong, come to think of it.
I think I need a cold shower.
After a little seasoning (not too much salt), I blasted it for 10 minutes at 230 C. I took the chicken out after this, and lay the quartered carrots in the juices, with a little seasoning.
I then put the chicken back in the oven, intending 40-50 minutes at 180 C (I have a fan-assisted oven, the recipe called for 50 minutes at 190 C, but also called for a 1.8 kg chicken).
The chicken was pretty much done after 40 minutes (I basted it in its own juices regularly, and turned the carrots once). At least that's when the juices ran clear. To be honest, it was a little pink in places, and could have been crispier/browner - much like an English suntan.
Oh well, the breasts were loverly.
While the chicken was going, I cubed 250 g of sweet potatoes and 250 g of parsnips, and boiled them. I think I may have overcooked them a little, and didn't add anything to the water before boiling. When they were boiled, I drained the water (not entirely effectively) and mashed them with unsalted butter, salt and pepper and some milk.
I should have left out the milk, and added something else, like herbs. The result was bland and watery.
I think my wife's plate says it all.
The carrots, on the other hand, were fabulous. They picked up the chicken's seasoning, and natural flavours, and had a really tasty carroty bite to them - almost sweet! Definitely the win.
The chicken skin was a bit loose, but I don't think there's anything you can do about that.
The Chablis was, I think, the perfect accompaniment. I'm biased though. And not very knowledgeable. I should work for Rupert Murdoch.
Of course, the whole point of roast chicken is roast chicken left-overs.
On Sunday, we had cold chicken with bisto gravy and roast carrots (courtesy of Wife), and I boiled down the remains (minus meat and skin) for stock, with a single sliced onion, some thyme, some peppercorns and some coriander we had lying about. This took about 4 hours of simmering, and required removing the oil from the surface periodically, then straining, and finally reducing to about half.
It made about 300 ml of stock. 1.4 kg chickens are not the win.
Next week: Hedonistic Christmas Cake ...
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