French Oven Roast Chicken

It is such a treat to have a homemade roast chicken especially in between work days! While roasting chicken on a pan will always has a special place in my heart,  I am excited to share with you French (Dutch) oven roast chicken is a recent and delicious addition to my repertoire.

I got this idea from reading about Miranda Kerr has cooked a slow roast chicken for her new husband, Evan Spiegel on the morning of her wedding day because it was his favourite! If it wasn’t stressed for her to cook this on the morning of her wedding, it certainly not going to be stressed for me to cook it on a work night ha!

Having said that, my recipe is not slow roasted which usually takes between 4 to 5 hours at 140C (250 Fahrenheit) depending on the weight of the chicken. I shudder to think I have to wait this long for dinner after work!

For a 1.4kg (3 pounds) chicken roasted at 180C (350 Fahrenheit) in a 20cm 2.4 L Le Creuset French Oven (c/o Everten), it took me about an hour to finish cooking with some vegetables on the side. What I discovered from roasting chicken this way is it keeps the chicken succulent and moist as it allows the chicken to cook in its own juice. Having said that you don’t get crispy skin as you would do with roasting on a pan. To be healthy, we usually forego the skin of the roast chicken so it is no big loss to us.

Having said that, on occasions, I will pan fry roast chicken skin on a dry pan over low-medium flame to create a chef treat for moi. The fat will render as it sizzles and after a minute or so, the skin will crisp up like a tasty and addictive biscuit! If crackling if your thing, the poultry version of a crackling is an indulgence!

Oh did I just put Miranda Kerr and crackling on the same article ha?

 

PrintSlow Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1.4kg (3 pounds) whole chicken
• 4 tsps dried thyme
• Salt
• Freshly milled black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 160g (0.3 pound) carrot, cut into short sticks
• 1 lemon, half cut in tiny wedges and the remaining half in slices
• 200g (0.4 pound) celery sticks, cut into short sticks
• 3 tsps cornstarch

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350 Fahrenheit).
2. Season the chicken with dried thyme, salt (about 1 teaspoon on each side of the chicken) and generous amount of black pepper.
3. In a pot (ideally stove and oven proof), melt a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of cooking oil over low-medium flame. When the butter is melted, turn up the flame to medium. Brown the chicken on all sides until golden brown. I would go slightly darker than the usual browning as there will be no further browning while cooking the chicken in the pot and steam will lighten the colour a little.
4. Remove the chicken from pot and stuff the cavity with garlic, carrots and lemon wedges.
5. Transfer the chicken to the pot (breast side up) and fill the gap (between the chicken and pot) with the remaining carrot, celery sticks and lemon. Cover the pot with a lid and transfer the pot to the preheated oven.
6. Roast the chicken for an hour or until the juice runs clear when you prick the thickest part of the chicken with a fork.
7. Remove the chicken from the pot onto a plate and remove the content of the cavity (except for the lemon wedges) back to the pot. Cover the chicken with an aluminum foil while resting.
8. To prepare the gravy, first combine the cornstarch with 1/8 cup water in a small boil and set aside.
9. Squeeze the garlic out from its peel into the gravy and then warm the gravy until it is starts to boil. When the gravy is boiling, add cornstarch mixture and stir gently. Continue to simmer the gravy until it thickens.
10. Once you are happy with the consistency of the gravy, check for seasoning. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. I also added grated parmesan over it for the extra umami flavour which is optional, of course!
11. To serve, carve the chicken and place it with your preferred accompaniment such as mash potatoes, bread, quinoa or lentils. Dress the final dish with gravy, yum!

3.1http://www.fussfreecooking.com/recipe-categories/meat-recipes/french-oven-roast-chicken/Visit www.fussfreecooking.com for more delicious recipes.

 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. The Le Creuset pot was a gift to me by Everten – Australia’s leading online kitchenware retailer.

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