FLOWER POT KITCHEN: LEMON ROASTED GARLIC CHICKEN

14 Aug 2019

LEMON ROASTED GARLIC CHICKEN

A great succulent juicy roasted chicken with creamy roasted garlic purée and caramelised lemons with a hint of citrus sour roasting pan gravy this is a fabulous Sunday family roast dinner.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 1 hr / Resting time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

1 large organic chicken

3 whole bulbs garlic

2 lemons thickly sliced

1 lemon halved

2 onions halved

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprig fresh oregano

6 fresh sage leaves

2 bay leaves

Olive oil

Himalayan sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

300 ml chicken stock

150 ml dry white wine

1 knob butter

Pre heat your oven to 200 C / 392 F. Place the halved lemon and bay leaves in to the cavity of the chicken, rub the whole bird with olive oil and generously season all over with salt and pepper place the chicken in a roasting tin, put the onion halves, whole garlic bulbs and sliced lemons in a large bowl, toss generously in olive oil, salt and pepper and add to the roasting tin around the chicken, lay on the herbs and place in the oven, cook for 20 minutes at 200 C / 392 F then turn the oven down to 180 C / 356 F for a further 30 minutes.

To check your chicken is cooked piece the thickest part of the thigh with a metal skewer and leave there for 15 seconds, remove and place the skewer tip on your top lip if it’s hit and the juices run clear it’s done. Remove from the roastin tin and cover with a cloth or foil and rest for 10-15 minutes.

To make roasting tin gravy, reserve the sliced lemons and garlic bulbs to one side, squeeze out the garlic purée for serving later, place the roasting tin on the stove on a medium heat, use one teaspoon the purée of one of the bulbs of garlic and place in to the gravy pan, add a couple of slices of lemon, along with the white wine and reduce by half, using a masher crush all the onions and ingredients together releasing their flavours in to the gravy, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, taste and season if needed, lastly add all the juices from the rested chicken, add a knob of butter, stir in then pour the gravy through a sieve in to a jug and serve with your gorgeous succulent chicken along with the caramelised lemon slices and garlic purée.

I serve this with goose fat basted classic roast potatoes.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.