Spitted Roast Chicken Food

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

ROAST SPICED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a small bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients. In a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in lemon juice, mustard, paprika and garlic salt. Keep warm., Sprinkle half the thyme mixture inside chicken; if desired, place quartered lemon inside chicken. Place chicken on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, breast side up. Tuck wings under chicken; tie drumsticks together., Brush outside of chicken with 1/2 cup butter mixture; sprinkle with remaining thyme mixture. Roast 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes with remaining butter mixture. (Cover loosely with foil if chicken browns too quickly.), Roast until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170°-175°, 30-60 minutes longer. Remove chicken from oven; tent with foil. Let stand 15 minutes before carving.

SPIT-ROASTED CHICKENS

Steps:

• Heat a grill until the coals are ninety percent white and no flame remains.
• Wash chickens inside and out under cold running water; pat dry with paper towels. Trim and discard excess fat. Rub with olive oil, and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together, and thread the chickens onto the spit through the cavities.
• Place spit above coals, and begin rotating. Grill chickens until legs move loosely at joints and juices run clear when pierced with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes. During the final 15 minutes, baste with barbecue sauce. Remove from grill. Let stand 15 minutes, and carve.

SPITTED ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Put a good square of butter and a little salt and pepper in the cavity of each chicken. Truss well and brush them with melted butter or oil seasoned to taste with salt, pepper and paprika. Spit them carefully. Run the spit through the backbone just above the tail and guide it to the top part of the breast at the base of the neck. This way you achieve a good balance.
• When your fire has burned down to a good bed of coals, make a ring of the briquets or charcoal leaving the center area directly under the chickens clear to catch the drippings. Arrange the spitted chickens over this space and roast, basting them frequently with equal parts of melted butter and white wine or dry vermouth. The cooking time will take from 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours, depending on the size of the birds.
• Plain roast chicken goes best with crisp sautéed potatoes and a fresh green salad with a minimum of dressing. As for wine, most people prefer a white, such as a Pinot Blanc from California, or a Meursault or Pouilly Fuissé from France.

SPRING ONE-POT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove any string from the chicken and sit in a large roasting tin or a baking dish, with plenty of space around it.
• Mash 2 tbsp of the mascarpone with the lemon zest, 1 tbsp of the tarragon and some seasoning. Slip your hand beneath the chicken skin to pull it away from the meat, then spread the mixture beneath the skin in a thin layer. Spoon another 3 tbsp mascarpone into the cavity of the chicken, to melt in with the roasting juices and enrich the sauce later on. Rub 2 tbsp olive oil into the skin, season well with sea salt, then loosely tie the legs together with butcher's string. Roast for 20 mins.
• Aarrange the potatoes and the garlic around the chicken, drizzle over another 1 tbsp oil and cook for another 30 mins.
• Toss the radishes and whole spring onions into the dish, in and around the potatoes, coating everything in the fat, then roast for another 25 mins. The potatoes and radishes will be golden and tender, and the chicken should be cooked through. Remove the chicken from the tin, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest.
• Pour off or spoon away the excess oil from the tin. Stir the remaining mascarpone (about 150g) with the stock in a jug until lump-free, then pour into the tin and bubble on the hob for few minutes, stirring to coat the potatoes and veg. Squeeze over some lemon juice and season.
• Stir in the peas, spring greens and most of the remaining tarragon, and bubble for a few more minutes until bright green. Sit the chicken back in the middle of the tin to serve and scatter over the reserved tarragon.

ONE-POT SPICED ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. If you're making the spice mix, combine all the ingredients and set aside. For the sauce, tip the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Heat the oil and ghee or butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the spiced onion purée with a pinch of salt for 12 mins. Add 2 tbsp of the spice mix, turn up the heat to high and cook for 1 min. Tip in the tomatoes, sugar and 250ml water. Bring to a simmer. Season well with salt and turn off the heat.
• To prepare the chicken, put the remaining spice mix in a bowl with 1 tsp sea salt and the ghee or butter, and mash together. Push two-thirds of the spiced butter beneath the skin of the chicken breasts, then rub the rest over the outside of the breasts and legs. Season the chicken skin with 1 tsp sea salt and tie the legs together. Sit the chicken in a 28-30cm pan, shallow casserole or roasting tin and pour the sauce around the bird. Cover the chicken with foil and roast for 40 mins, then remove the foil and roast for another 30-40 mins, or until cooked through (when you cut into one of the legs, the juices should run clear). Stir the double cream into the sauce. Taste for seasoning and leave to rest, uncovered, for 10 mins.
• Make the chutney by blitzing all the ingredients together in a food processor until coarse. Season to taste.
• Top the chicken with some extra sliced chillies and coriander leaves, then serve with the chutney, pilau rice and naan, if you like.

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

Steps:

• Let chicken and 1 tablespoon butter stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove and discard the plastic pop-up timer from chicken if there is one. Remove the giblets and excess fat from the chicken cavity. Rinse chicken inside and out under cold running water. Dry chicken thoroughly with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips under the body. Sprinkle the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper, and set aside.
• In the center of a heavy-duty roasting pan, place onion slices in two rows, touching. Place the palm of your hand on top of lemon and, pressing down, roll lemon back and forth several times. This softens the lemon and allows the juice to flow more freely. Pierce entire surface of lemon with a fork. Using the side of a large knife, gently press on garlic cloves to open slightly. Insert garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and lemon into cavity. Place chicken in pan, on onion slices. Cut about 18 inches of kitchen twine, bring chicken legs forward, cross them, and tie together.
• Spread the softened butter over entire surface of chicken, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, and roast until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and the juices run clear when pierced, about 1 1/2 hours. When chicken seems done, insert an instant-read thermometer into the breast, then the thigh. The breast temperature should read 180 degrees and the thigh 190 degrees.
• Remove chicken from oven, and transfer to a cutting board with a well. Let chicken stand 10 to 15 minutes so the juices settle. Meanwhile, pour the pan drippings into a shallow bowl or fat separator, and leave onions in the pan. Leave any brown baked-on bits in the bottom of the roasting pan, and remove and discard any blackened bits. Using a large spoon or fat separator, skim off and discard as much fat as possible. Pour the remaining drippings and the juices that have collected under the resting chicken back into the roasting pan. Place on the stove over medium-high heat to cook, about 1 minute. Add chicken stock, raise heat to high, and, using a wooden spoon, stir up and combine the brown bits with the stock until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Strain the gravy into a small bowl, pressing on onions to extract any liquid. Discard onions, and stir in the remaining tablespoon of cold butter until melted and incorporated. Untie the legs, and remove and discard garlic, thyme, and lemon. Carve, and serve gravy on the side.

SPICED ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, combine spices. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then rub all over with spice mixture. Place in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid. Arrange vegetables and orange wedges around chicken and add 1/2 cup water. Cover and roast 30 minutes. Remove lid and roast until skin is golden brown and juices run clear when chicken is pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone, should read 165 degrees), 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables and orange wedges.

CUMIN-SPICED ROAST CHICKEN WITH PORK & PISTACHIO STUFFING

Steps:

• Make the stuffing by blending the ingredients with 1 tsp salt in a food processor, taking care not to purée it - a little bit of crunch here and there makes it all the more satisfying. Check the seasoning by frying a tsp of the stuffing and tasting - adjust if you need to.
• Put a piece of cling film on a chopping board and dollop on the stuffing, patting it out to rough circle just smaller than the surface of the breast meat to be covered. Make the layer thicker at one end, for the bottom end of the breasts where the meat is thinner - the extra thickness will help to keep it juicy and cook evenly. Cover with cling film and chill for 30 mins to set.
• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Pat the chicken dry all over using kitchen paper. From the neck end, push your fingers under the layer of skin on the breasts and wriggle them gently to release the skin and open up the pocket for the stuffing. Push right down - you will need to cover the entire breast meat area with the stuffing - but be careful not to tear the skin.
• Make the spice rub by combining all the ingredients. Rub it generously over the chicken and inside the cavity, then insert the aromatics into the cavity. Unwrap the stuffing, halve it, then push half under the skin of each of the breasts, thin end first. Cover the chicken loosely with foil so the spices don't burn.
• Roast the chicken for 1 hr 10 mins. Mix 3 tbsp grape molasses with 1 tbsp hot water, brush over the skin, then increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and return the chicken for 20 mins to crisp up the skin. Baste twice more with molasses at 5-min intervals. Test the chicken in the thigh and breast to make sure it is cooked - the juices should run clear. Take the cavity aromatics out of the chicken and set aside (don't worry if you can't get them all). Leave the chicken to rest for 45 mins somewhere warm, but don't cover the skin so it stays crisp.
• Meanwhile, pour the fat out of the roasting tin (there will be lots, which you can sieve and keep in the fridge for up to a week to use for cooking), leaving the juices behind. Add a little chicken stock and the cavity aromatics to the tin and bring to a boil, then sieve into a pan. Add the rest of the stock, simmer until reduced by half, then stir in 1 tsp grape molasses. Just before serving, add the resting juices from the chicken to the pan and bring the sauce back to the boil. Taste for seasoning and stir in the butter.

ROAST CHICKEN & SPICED RICE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 6. Pour 800ml just-boiled water into a heatproof jug, crumble in the stock cube and stir in along with half the curry paste and the butter or oil. Pour the mixture into a large baking dish or roasting tin (ours was 25 x 35cm and 5cm deep), and tip in the rice and cinnamon stick. Season and stir well.
• Cut a few deep slashes into each chicken thigh, then rub all over with the remaining curry paste and some seasoning. Arrange on top of the rice mixture, then cover the dish or tin with foil and bake for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, and fry the onion for 10-15 mins, or until soft and caramelised.
• Uncover the chicken and rice. The rice should still be wet, but if not, top up with 50-100ml more water. Scatter over the almonds and bake, uncovered, for 10-15 mins more until the chicken is browned, all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through and crisp at the edges. Meanwhile, cook the green beans in boiling water for 2-3 mins, then drain. Scatter the coriander and fried onions over the chicken and rice, spoon a few dollops of chutney over the dish, and serve with the green beans.