Super Simple Roast Chicken

Before I tried making roast chicken for the first time, I was intimidated by the ingredients and the fact that I'd have to use an oven. 

You see, I have a very old oven that was left behind by my landlord. Instead of coils, it has a burner at the bottom which tends to burn food, instead of cooking it thoroughly. I guess you can call it the unconventional oven hehe. 

But one day my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give it a try anyway.

I went online and checked out Jamie Oliver's easy peasy roast chicken recipe. He does not bother peeling or finely chopping any of the ingredients. And of course this is good news for people who do not really have time to cook at home. After all, don't we all prefer home cooked food over eating out every day?

Here are the ingredients you will need :

One whole chicken

1 lemon

Fresh thyme

Fresh rosemary

2 carrots

A few stalks of celery

2 onions

A bulb of garlic

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Mexican Pepper (optional)

Olive oil 

Half a cube of chicken stock

3 tablespoons of all purpose flour

Roughly chop up celery, carrots, onions and scatter them around your roasting tray. Just chop off the top of the garlic and throw the whole bulb in. It will caramelize and become buttery once cooked.

Wash your chicken inside and out and pat it dry

Stuff the chicken cavity with rosemary and thyme. Put in as many as you want. Your chicken will be infused with the herbs once cooked.

Use a fork to poke holes into your lemon

Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon

Smear butter all over your chicken. Next, rub salt, pepper and Mexican pepper (optional) all over. Be generous with the seasoning. 

Plop your seasoned and stuffed chicken onto the pile of vegetables in the roasting tray and sprinkle the remaining rosemary and thyme on top. Splash olive oil all over the chicken and vege. Yummay!

Pop the chicken into a preheated oven and turn the heat down to 200 degrees Celsius. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Once your chicken is done, move fast. Remove the chicken from the roasting tray to a serving plate. Cover it with foil so the juices stay intact when you are ready to eat. 

Gravy

Pour all the vegetables (including juices) from the roasting tray into a pot. Add water and put it to boil

Add half a cube of chicken stock into the pot

 Add one or two bay leaves (optional). In a separate bowl, mix three tablespoons all purpose flour with plain water. Mix till it forms a smooth paste. Pour the paste into the boiling soup. Once it thickens, strain out the vegetables and your gravy is done!

Serve with salad or mashed potatoes or just eat it alone. Don't forget to upload your photo on instagram and tag me @nadianazir. Good luck!