SERVES 4-6

This is the best roast chicken recipe hands down. The skin is perfectly crisp and crackly, there’s no basting, which results in a lovely pan gravy at the finish. Easy enough for a weeknight dinner and impressive enough for dinner parties. Preparing is as simple as adding in some vegetables & herbs and roasting in the oven.

Ingredients

Serves 3 – 4

• 1 (4-5lbs) (2-2 ½kgs) Whole Chicken
• 1 medium yellow onion cut into 1/8 ‘s
• 2 celery stalks cut into 3 inch pieces
• 1 large carrot cut into 3 inch pieces
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 lemon cut in ½
• 1 orange cut in ½
• 2 tablespoons butter softened
• 2 tablespoons Herb de Provence
• Kosher salt or sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 – 10 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 cups Chicken broth + ½ if needed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (220 degrees Celsius)

30 minutes before you plan on roasting the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator. Mix the softened butter, Herb de Provence, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Toss the onion, celery, garlic, lemon and orange with olive oil. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers

Place the chicken breast side up, on a work surface. Slip your fingers under the skin and gently separate the skin from the breast being careful not to tear the skin. Use ½ of the herb butter and place under the skin. Season the inside of the chicken with salt & pepper. Melt the remaining butter and brush it all over the chicken. Place the thyme, ½ head of garlic, ½ lemon, ½ orange inside the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together with kitchen string, aka trussing the legs and tuck the wing tips under the chicken. Place the celery, carrot, onion, the remaining garlic, lemon and orange in the center of a roasting pan and place the chicken breast side up on top making sure the chicken is as level as possible. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth in to bottom of the roasting pan.

Invest in a kitchen probe thermometer to take out the guess work and also to ensure the perfect roast chicken every time .

Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hour until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (73 degrees celsius) when probed with a kitchen thermometer. OR To check doneness without a thermometer cut between the leg and thigh and juices should run clear. Remove from pan and allow to rest to 15 minutes uncovered if you like a very crispy skin. Squeeze the citrus juices and garlic if you like into the pan and discard along the rest with the herbs and vegetables. Spoon all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the juices in the pan and add the stock so that you have about 1 cup. Bring to boil and cook until lightly syrupy, 5 minutes and strain. Carve the chicken and serve with pan juices.