Roastie basics: Getting down and dirty about roasting chicken

Roasting a chicken has to be the easiest thing to do in a kitchen. If you are new to cooking or want a fulfilling dinner with under an hour, just get a bird and pop it into the oven. This chicken roast is one of a few of my kitchen ammo whenever guests are arriving in an unexpectedly short period of time. The possibilities from a roast chicken are endless. You can:-

• eat it on it's own with some roasted potatoes and vegetables (roasted together, mind you!)
• let the chicken cool and then pull the meat out of the chicken breast to make a nice chicken salad
• de-bone the chicken off it's carcass (do not throw away yet) and keep the meat in a nice tupperware for a quickie chicken sandwich
• use the chicken carcass, which has been infused with a lot of goodies, to make a soup base and add some roasted chicken meat into the soup for a nice chicken soup
• use some of the meat on some rice or stir fry
• let your hunger and imagination run wild with food you can make from one roast chicken
  

Think about how much time and effort (and money) it will save you from roasting one chicken. If you have a family, say 4-5, roast two chicken and your week's lunches will be taken care off.

Some of you might cry, "But roast chicken breasts are dry and flavorless, they suck, I only like the thighs", let me just say that if you try this method of mine, you will never have to deal with dry chicken breasts ever again. There are two ways that I use to make my chicken breast juicy, tender and flavorful. I will divulge the not-so-secret methods soon!

Roasting a chicken need not be a tedious thing - usually, I prepare the bird on the day I need it and it will cook within 45mins - 1hour (depending on the size of the bird). But if you have time, I suggest marinating the whole chicken like how you would with a piece of meat. The flavors are immensely infused into the bird, making you even want to chew off the bone! But if you don't have time, that's fine - I didn't when I made this roast chicken.

How do you make chicken breast juicy, tender and flavorful? There is only one word to it and that is "FAT". We want to use some fat to cover the chicken breasts so that it doesn't lose it's juices during cooking time and at the same time infuse flavor and a bit of fat into the white meat. Chicken breasts have the least fat in the entire bird, which is why dieters love eating chicken breasts as it is healthy and low in fat. But it can also taste like wet cardboard if not prepared properly or is overcooked.

There are two ways to make your chicken's breast juicy, tender and flavorful:

1. Separate the skin of the breast with your fingers, making sure to push all the way through to the collar bone of the chicken to make room. Once that is done, push some butter down the space between the skin and the breast meat. If you want, stuff in some sliced garlic too for some flavor. <--- I'm using this method for my chicken recipe.
2. Wrap yummy bacon around the chicken breast horizontally, from one wing-end to the other. Layer one bacon at a time until the entire breast is cover. Not only will the bacon keep the bird tasty, it will also keep the chicken breast tender, juicy and flavorful. You will also have some bacon crisps at the end of the game. :)

Now, let's get on to my chicken recipe, shall we? I used a 1.5kg chicken for this Lemon Sage Roasted Chicken.

Ingredients:
1.5kg chicken
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (use dried if you don't have fresh)
1 clove of chopped garlic + 2 whole cloves unpeeled but smashed lightly
1 whole lemon ( rind off + 1 tbsp of lemon juice, and do not throw away the rest)

First, pre-heat your oven to 450 F.

Step 1: Trim your chicken off the excess fats, mostly concentrated around the cavity of the chicken. Rinse your chicken and pat dry with a disposable kitchen towel. Season with some salt and pepper - these are your base seasoning. Remember to season the cavity of the chicken heavily with salt and pepper, it will permeate the flavors from inside out. Separate the skin of the chicken breasts to make room for the butter. Set the chicken aside.

Step 2: Wash your hand clean before proceeding. Done? Good. Take 1/2 cup of soften butter, add a dash of pepper, 2 tablespoons of chopped sage, rind of one lemon, 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Mix well.


Step 3: Stuff the butter mixture between the breast and the skin of the chicken. Use approximately 4 tbsp worth of lemon sage butter stuffed in between the skin and breasts. Your chicken may look like a product of Frankenstein but like an ugly duckling, it will become a beautiful roast chicken.


Step 4: Smear the rest of the butter around the chicken and inside the cavity. Pop in the two cloves of smashed garlic, left over lemon into the chicken cavity. Your chicken is now ready to roast.

Tip: Do the whole stuffing and smearing of the butter on the chicken in the pan you're roasting chicken in - this will save you from doing extra dishes.

Step 5: Pop your chicken into the pre-heated oven at the temperature of 450F for 25 minutes, this ensures a nice kickstart to that golden crisp color of your roasted chicken. And then lower the heat of the oven to 375 F and let the chicken roast for a further 30-40 minutes. Prick the thickest part of the chicken thigh with a skewer and if the juice runs clear, your chicken is done and ready. If not, let it roast for another 15 minutes and do the prickling test again. Let the chicken rest for 20 minutes before serving - crucial for a juicy, tender chicken.


You can definitely use other herbs and spices to make your roast chicken. But I happen to be in love with Sage right now so I'm using it on everything. Depending on the size of your chick, you might want to increase your baking time. Usually, even with the biggest chicken 1hr 25mins is as far as you go - and that is if your chicken is the size of a small turkey, mind you.

If you want a one oven meal, pop in some carrots, potatoes, green beans and onions seasoned with some olive oil, salt and pepper into the roasting pan and place the chicken on top of the vegetables to roast. You will have a really flavorful side to go with your roast chicken, with minimal effort!

P.S. If you want some sauce to go with your roasted chicken dinner, just scrape the fond off the pan and add some chicken stock, white wine, more sage and let it simmer down to half. If you want a creamy sauce, add 2 tbsp of cooking cream in. If you want a thicker sauce, either reduce the sauce into the consistency you want or add some corn starch.

Happy Roasting!

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Other chicken-related recipes:

• Butter Chicken
• Green Chicken Curry
• Ayam Masak Merah Madu
• Kimchi Chicken Stew
• Chicken Tikka
• Chicken Curry
• Belachan Fried Chicken
• Blackened Chicken
• Lemongrass Chicken
• Grandma's Chicken Rice
• Stir-Fried Kimchi Chicken