English Roast Chicken Recipes

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

WHOLE ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven and a roasting tray to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7.
• Pick and finely chop the soft herbs, halve the lemon and tear the bay leaves.
• Rub inside the chicken cavity with sea salt, then carefully grab the skin at the tip of the chicken breasts, making sure that it doesn't rip, and pull up gently. With your other hand gently separate the skin from the meat of the breast - it's normally connected by a little bit of tissuey-type stuff, and you can either leave this attached in the middle and make two little tunnels either side or you can try to cut away the middle.
• Sprinkle a little salt down the gaps that you have made, push in most of the chopped herbs and drizzle in a little oil.
• Push the lemon halves into the cavity along with the bay and rosemary sprigs, then pull the skin of the chicken breast forward so that none of the flesh is exposed, tuck the little winglets under, and tie up as firmly as possible.
• Rub a little oil all over the chicken skin, scatter over the remaining chopped herbs and season very generously with salt and black pepper. Slash each thigh about 3 or 4 times to allow the heat to penetrate directly.
• Remove the hot tray from the oven and drizzle with a little oil. Put the chicken into the tray, breast-side down and leaning to one side, then place in the oven. Roast for 5 minutes, then lean it to the other side, still breast-side down. Cook for another 5 minutes, then place the chicken on its bottom and cook for 1 further hour, or until golden and cooked through - the skin should be really crispy and the herbs will flavour the meat- this really must be the best roast chicken. Trust me - it's not fiddly, it's pukka.

JUICY ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken in a roasting pan, and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder. Place 3 tablespoons margarine in the chicken cavity. Arrange dollops of the remaining margarine around the chicken's exterior. Cut the celery into 3 or 4 pieces, and place in the chicken cavity.
• Bake uncovered 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from heat, and baste with melted margarine and drippings. Cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest about 30 minutes before serving.

ENGLISH ROAST CHICKEN AND GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat over to 350°F.
• Remove giblets, and rinse chicken. Dry chicken completely with paper towels (important). Place in a shallow roasting pan.
• Rub with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and with the salt, onion powder, and pepper.
• Remove skin from an onion, cut in half, and place into microwave safe dish into microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, or just until soft.
• Place half the onion in the chicken cavity, and put the other half pulled apart in pieces all around the chicken in the pan.
• Roast chicken uncovered in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.
• Insert meat thermometer. Temperature should be around 180°F (If you see red or pink juices coming out, it is definitely still raw).
• Once fully cooked, remove chicken from pan, saving pan drippings and let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes.
• Skim fat from pan drippings, and place pan on stove top on medium heat. (If there is a lot of juice, you may want to pour some off).
• Slowly heat the juices and whisk in flour to desired gravy thickness. If the gravy becomes too thick, just thin it out with water. Add more onion powder if desired.

CLASSIC ROAST CHICKEN & GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Have a shelf ready in the middle of the oven without any shelves above it.
• Scatter 1 roughly chopped onion and 2 roughly chopped carrots over the base of a roasting tin that fits the whole 1 ½ kg chicken, but doesn't swamp it.
• Season the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, then stuff with 2 lemon halves and a small bunch of thyme, if using.
• Sit the chicken on the vegetables, smother the breast and legs all over with 25g softened butter, then season the outside with salt and pepper.
• Place in the oven and leave, undisturbed, for 1 hr 20 mins - this will give you a perfectly roasted chicken. To check, pierce the thigh with a skewer and the juices should run clear.
• Carefully remove the tin from the oven and, using a pair of tongs, lift the chicken to a dish or board to rest for 15-20 mins. As you lift the dish, let any juices from the chicken pour out of the cavity into the roasting tin.
• While the chicken is resting, make the gravy. Place the roasting tin over a low flame, then stir in 1 tbsp flour and sizzle until you have a light brown, sandy paste.
• Gradually pour in 250ml chicken stock, stirring all the time, until you have a thickened sauce.
• Simmer for 2 mins, using a wooden spoon to stir, scraping any sticky bits from the tin.
• Strain the gravy into a small saucepan, then simmer and season to taste. When you carve the bird, add any extra juices to the gravy.