Easy melt in your mouth roast chicken

Have you ever made a meal that made yourself stop and say 'Wow this is amazing'? Every once in a while I surprise even myself, especially when that surprise comes from a near disaster. This latest delightful recipe can in the form of a roast chicken. The night started off on a bad note when I went to prepare what was going to be a Chinese inspired roasted chicken, only to discover that I didn't have any more rice wine nor any thing that could be substituted for it. Frustrated but stuck with a defrosted chicken that needed to be cooked I had to come up with something else. I will confess, my disappointment about the discovery of the lack of ingredients left me a bit stumped for ideas of what to do. Sometimes when I get so focused on one idea I have a hard time coming up with a new one and it is often those nights I get frustrated and we go out to eat. But I was determined to come up with something good. I was starting to run out of time to have it all prepared in time for dinner so I came up with a less fuss recipe that I hoped would yield juicy results without having to do things like brining the bird beforehand. I am pleased to say that the result was better then I had imagined and definitely made up for the failure of the first idea.
 

 

Melt in Your Mouth Roast Chicken

1.6 kg (3.5 lbs) Whole Chicken

1 onion

1/2 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

3 sprigs of thyme

1 knob of butter 

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp marjoram

1 tsp powdered garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 carrots chopped into 2 inch chunks

4 roasting potatoes chopping into 2 inch chunks

1/2 c. water

2 Tbps cornstarch mixed with 1/2 Tbsp water

 

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, paprika, marjoram, powdered garlic and salt and pepper. 

 

 

 

 

 

Wash the chicken and then pat the chicken dry. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chop the onion coarsely, crush the garlic and cut the lemon in half.

 

 

 

 

 

Place the chicken on to a roasting pan and season the chicken liberally with salt both on the outside and inside. Then stuff the crushed garlic, thyme sprigs and lemon quarters and the butter into the cavity and tie the legs together with twine. 

 

 

 

 

 Spread a layer of the olive oil mixture over the chicken and set the rest of the mixture aside for use later. 

 

 

Put the chicken into a pre-heated oven. For the first 30 minutes re-brush the chicken with the olive oil mixture every 10 minutes.

After 30 minutes take the chicken out and place the potatoes and carrots around the bird and pour the water into the roasting pan. *I never add my veggies first because I find that it cooks them too long and they become mushy and lose a lot of their individual flavor.

 

 

 

 

Roast for another hour, or until the juices run clear when an inner thigh is pierced. Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let rest for 10 minutes.

Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and thicken with 2 Tbsp of cornstarch and serve with the chicken.