Wednesday 26 October 2011

Chicken My Way


I was once invited round to dinner by a French man.  An excellent cook (via maman), who was serving overtime on the charm offensive with his cheeky self-titled Poulet a ma façon which translates as Chicken My Way (I really liked it).  This is not what he cooked, but by way of an explanantion for my bestowing his title on my own rustic roast chicken for a cold and damp day like today in London - for your loved ones : )
Everyone who enjoys making roast chicken has a recipe or ingredients they swear by.  Chicken "my way" is a combination I trust of a thyme butter used in a recipe that was self-deprecatingly called "The best roast chicken EVER"  on youtube and my thing for lemons (in this case I use poussin - a smaller chicken).  Serve whole or halved with roasted baby potatoes and boiled kale.
For two poussin:

75g cold butter (left to soften at room temp so it is pliable)
30g fresh thyme
3 lemons
1/2 chicken stock cube

Preheat the oven to 200'C.

Finely chop 15g of thyme and mix with cold butter till well combined.  Chop one lemon into thin slices, and halve the other two lemons.

Loosen the skin over the breast and legs.  Under the skin, stuff with nuggets of the thyme butter and lemon slices, so these are evenly spread and gently flattened.  Stuff the lemon halves into the main cavities of each poussin.

Crumb the stock cube and season, rubbing these fairly evenly over the skin of both.  Dress with remaining thyme for a rustic look.  Roast between 45-50minutes - juices should run clear (or follow instructions for temperature and timing on meat packaging, temperature setting may also vary according to your oven).

Make sure to rest the roast chicken for optimum 30minutes after removing from the oven.

The juices that run off from roasting should be collected, the top layer of fat removed.  I simmer the remaining juice and thicken with a little flour.

For dessert try my favourite comforting apple strudle and custard recipe Food tonight - done!

1 comment:

  1. I don't know about the chicken juices but my mouth got watery by your recipe. I just know it tastes heavenly!

    I love roasted chicken and, by the way, another "best ever" recipe is to put the chicken straight on a half-full beer can. Mmmm, I got hungry!

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