Jamie Oliver Roast Chicken With Lemon Rosemary Roast Potatoes Recipes

JAMIE OLIVER - ROAST CHICKEN WITH LEMON & ROSEMARY ROAST POTATOES

Steps:

• Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it for lunch or dinner. By doing this, you'll make the meat really tasty when cooked. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with the whole lemon and the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get chuffed up and fluffy - this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast. While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and the thyme into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the potatoes into this with the rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the centre of the potatoes and put the chicken back in. If using the bacon, lay the rashers over the chicken breast and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.) I like to remove the bacon from the chicken and crumble it up over the potatoes. Then I remove the lemon and garlic from inside the chicken, squeeze all the garlic flesh out of the skin, mush it up and smear it all over the chicken, discard the lemon and rosemary and carve the chicken at the table. Heaven!

LEMON & ROSEMARY ROAST CHICKEN WITH CRISPY POTATOES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Cut the potatoes into 2 mouthful-sized chunks and put in a large pan of salted water. Bring to the boil, cook for 5 mins, then drain. Meanwhile, place the olive oil in a really large, sturdy roasting tin and heat for 5 mins. Tip the potatoes in and cook for 20 mins.
• Meanwhile, peel the zest from the lemon (a vegetable peeler is great for this) and slice it finely. Mix it with the sea salt. Place the chicken on a board with the legs pointing towards you, and undo any string tied around. Lift up the skin around the cavity and work your fingers under the skin over the breast and legs, easing it away from the flesh. Push the salty shreds of lemon rind under the skin, spreading it as evenly as possible, followed by four sprigs of rosemary, one on each leg and one on each breast. Then put one sprig inside the bird along with the peeled lemon.
• Take the tin out of the oven, give the potatoes a good shake, and then arrange them so you can fit a rack over the roasting tin. Then place the chicken upside down on the rack and roast for 20 mins. Turn the chicken over and turn potatoes, coating them in the fat that's run off the bird. Return to the oven and roast for another 20 mins, then turn the potatoes again and cook for another 20-30 mins, until the chicken juices run clear.
• Remove the roasting tin from the oven and put the chicken on a serving platter, covering it with foil to keep it warm. Leave to rest for 20 mins. Meanwhile, scoop the potatoes into an ovenproof dish and return to the oven to finish crisping up. Pour away the fat from the roasting tin, then put the tin on the hob over a low to medium heat. Add half the stock, then bring to simmering point, stirring and scraping up the brown residue. Boil, reducing until darker and syrupy. Add the rest of the stock, and bring to simmering point again, bubbling to reduce it. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pour through a sieve into a warmed gravy jug.
• Pile the potatoes around the chicken, and garnish with remaining rosemary sprigs. Serve with gravy and braised lettuce.
• Freezing: Freeze the chicken at the end of step 2, for up to a month. Defrost thoroughly before continuing with the recipe.