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Pan roast whole Chicken

 Oh yes. It's a doozy. My inspiration for this one comes from another of the Pantheon's greats, Jacques Pepin himself, and from the reduced section of my local Co-op food store.


Ingredients:

For the chicken:

  • Whole chicken
  • Seasoning - I prefer Cornish Sea Salt, black and white pepper
  • Garlic
  • Fresh herbs - Rosemary and thyme definitely
  • Lemon (optional)

For the veg:

  • Onion
  • Potatoes (I used baby new)
  • Garlic
  • Other vegetables???

You will need:

  • Oven-proof cast iron pan
  • Oven tray
  • Tin foil
  • Oil and butter


Method:

Start off by getting your oven up to temperature. Just straight to the maximum while you deal with the rest of the ingredients and prep. Smash up a load of garlic cloves, enough to be shared between the chicken and vegetables, and set aside. The prep the veg - I got through about maybe a quarter of a bag of baby new potatoes, skin on, sliced into rough halves or thirds, and just some red onion; feel free to add anything you like to this, though. Tray all that up and cover in oil and some of the garlic and rosemary and leave in a convenient place.

Let that oven keep warming up, it'll be fine.

Now for the chicken. I had the intense good fortune to pick up a whole large chicken for £1.96 from the co-op on final reduction, but this method will work with a full-price bird as well. However, you will need to change the timings for whatever chicken you do get, as this was a large, just under 2kgs (around 4lbs), so adjust accordingly. Heat some oil and butter in your oven-proof pan on the hob and season your chicken generously inside and out. If you can, take the wishbone out of the front before roasting. When the pan's up to heat, get the chicken in, breast facing up, and brown the back of it for 10 or so mins. Flip the chicken over and repeat the browning process for another ten minutes, and then get some garlic and optionally, half a lemon, in the cavity, then transfer the pan to the oven, on a high shelf (you'll need enough room to clear the top and also a shelf underneath). Give it 5 minutes on full blast, and then turn it down to 180 celsius (350 Fahrenheit, or Gas mark 4) and leave it completely alone for half an hour. 

After your half hour has passed, take the pan out and baste the chicken in the juices that have come out, and return to the safety of the oven. Don't forget to move the pan around on the shelf if you have hot spots so it cooks evenly. You'll need to do this at least three times, a half hour between each time. If the pan looks dryer than you'd like, feel free to throw some more butter in before putting it back in. Now, the third time, turn the chicken back over so it's back to the original way up, baste as normal and return to the oven. It's at this point that you cover it in fresh herbs before putting it back in - the reason I wait til this last time is so they don't just scorch straight away. The chicken will be almost done at this point, so just keep an eye on your final timings. Once you're up to time, take the pan out and let the chicken rest on a carving board covered in tin foil for another 20 minutes. I'll be honest, I've never used a meat thermometer before as I don't have one, so I can't advise on internal temperatures, but do make sure it's cooked. 

During all of this, you've got a tray of potatoes and onion sat there. These will take no more than an hour (in fact probably more like 40 mins really), so why not put them in on the lower shelf (which is realistically the middle of the oven) when you do the final flip of the chicken, then take out to shuffle when you remove the meat to rest. As I said, you can always do something else, maybe steam some greens or whatever, but again, not until later so you don't overcook them. 


After resting time, it's ready to carve. I barely ever rest any roasted meats because I'm hungry and impatient, but you must resist. Carve it up by taking the leg portions off first, then the wings (which you might as well eat now as little a treat to yourself), and then get your knife by the sternum and slice down to take the breast off each side in one go. This effectively gives you four meals' worth of meat to have with... Whatever! One front quarter portion is certainly good to go right now with your roasted onion and potatoes, then you could curry either one or both legs and shred the last portion up for fried rice - I actually had a half chicken the first night when I did it last month (whoops).


The only real effort here is lifting a cast iron in and out of an oven, but otherwise, there's plenty of time to relax and let the oven do the work for you.






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