Monday 28 September 2009

My first roast chook





It's official. I spent the afternoon preparing to cook my first roast chook. Looking at the fruit bowl and witnessing an avalanche of oranges, I decided to use one to my advantage. I thought that if I combined the zest of an orange with my dairy free butter, I could use that to spread under the skin of the fresh chicken. It panned out as follows:
1) Pre-heat a fan-forced oven to 180C. 2) Grate the zest of an orange and place in a small bowl. 3) Add 1/12 tablespoons of Nuttelex (or any butter you desire) and stir to combine. 4) Using a butter knife, find the existing opening of the skin at the base of the chicken near the legs and spread the butter and orange mixture under the skin. 5) Use your hands to knead the butter as evenly over the chicken breast as possible. If there is any mixture left, rub over the whole chicken. 6) Place chicken on an oven tray and bake at 180C for 1 hour to start. 7) In the meantime, boil chat potatoes for about 15 minutes and strain from the water. Once cool to touch, slice half way through the potato multiple times over the surface. Sprinkle with a little salt. 8) Once chicken has been cooking for an hour, place potatoes around the chicken. 9) Peel carrots and once potatoes have been in the oven for about 10 minutes, add the carrots to the tray. 10) Cook the chook for a total of 1 hour and 35 minutes (potatoes for total 35 minutes and carrots for 25 minutes). The chicken is cooked when the meat is white. 10) Steam broccoli either in the microwave or over stove top just before serving. Enjoyment factor: experimentation beyond fun. Presentation: very rustic. Taste: Priceless.

3 comments:

  1. YUM..LOOKS DELICIOUS..SO NEXT TIME YOU COME UP WE'LL BE HAVING ROAST CHOOK A LA TEGAN?? XOXO

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  2. Thanks Aunty Karol!! Yes I'd be more than happy to cook it again for you and Arthur... second times a charm!! Hope you're all well at PDV xoxo

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