I have never made a whole stuffed chicken before and I was daunted by the task at hand. Folks at home usually prefer to buy boneless chicken or pre-cut pieces. And there is never any skin; so I’ve never seen a whole chicken being made. To begin with I read through Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef where I found a wonderful roast chicken recipe and step by step instructions as to how I must handle the bird. It was basically some herbs, lemon and seasoning.
I bought some bell peppers, pearl onions, baby corn, mushrooms and pre-cut vegetable (cauliflower, french beans, carrots). I must mention here that I NEVER use pre-cut vegetables – it’s against my cooking principles. I strongly believe in putting in that extra effort and doing things from scratch, even if it is something as simple as making that choice of not buying pre-cut vegetables – but when life gets in the way of cooking, there is little one can do.
And so I began my first roast chicken. I unwrapped the chicken I had bought I peeped into the cavity. It was clean. After rinsing it with water a couple of times I saw some offal sticking out. I immediately summoned my mum to help me with the eeky stuff. I admire the ease with with she cleaned it with her bare hands. I could never do that. If I see something that’s not to my liking I’ll probably just cook it and not eat it at all. (That’s what I did when I made lobster – I just couldn’t get myself to eat it after all the cleaning. No, my mum wasn’t around then).
So anyway, after cleaning the chicken and rinsing it thoroughly with salt water I dabbed all the water in and around it so that I could begin with the stuffing. I used a mix of fresh and dried herbs, whatever was available.
Roast chicken does not make a pretty picture. But it’s delicious!
Roast Chicken
For the chicken stuffing and sprinkling:
Tarragon
Oregano
1 lime, halved
Freshly cracked pepper
Lime and pink pepper salt
Olive oil
Veggies I put in the same pan:
Cauliflower
Carrots
French beans
Potatoes
Pearl onions
Whole garlic cloves
Red Jalepenos
- Preheat the oven to 225ºC/425ºF. Rub the cavity with salt and a little olive oil. Pull up the skin from the tip of the breast, making sure it doesn’t rip. Separate the skin and stuff this area between the skin and the meat with the stuffing mixture. Pull the skin back in place.
- Stuff the cavity with the herb mix and the lime and tie the chicken tightly.
- Slash the thighs. Rub oil all over the chicken skin and season with salt and pepper and the herb mix.
- In a tray place the chicken, breast side down and allow it to cook for 5 -10 minutes. Also place the vegetables around it and sprinkle with some seasoning. Now place the chicken on its bottom and cook for 1 hour. The excess fat that drips of the chicken will cook the vegetables.
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Balsamic Roasted vegetables
I like to nibble on roast veggies along with my meal, and balsamic roast vegetables were a perfect accompaniment to the roast chicken (even though I’d already put enough in the tray).
It’s so easy to make. Just put together your favourite vegetables in a tray, I used yellow and red bell peppers, baby corn, halved mushrooms, zucchini and cauliflower. Sprinkle this with salt (used my favourite lime and pink pepper salt again :D), splash with a good amount of balsamic and let it cook at 200ºC/400ºF for 30 minutes.
Serve the chicken and vegetables with a crusty baguette. This makes for a delicious Sunday afternoon meal.