Lemon Roast Chicken

Lemon Roast Chicken with all the trimmings tastes great. Roasting your spuds in with the chicken will make them lovely and crispy. You can use the cooking juices to make a tasty gravy and the leftover bones to make a Chicken Stock (see our website for a recipe).

Ingredients

1 large fresh chicken (weighing between 1.3kg – 1.8kg)
4 rashers streaky bacon
2 lemons
A few sprigs fresh rosemary, sage OR tarragon OR 1 x 15ml spoon mixed dried herbs
1 x 15ml spoon olive oil
Whole bulb garlic, separated into cloves, left unpeeled
Black pepper (optional)
600ml water

Roasties
4–6 floury white potatoes (Maris Piper OR King Edwards)
2 large sweet potatoes (optional)

Equipment

Roasting tin
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Measuring spoons
Oven gloves
Vegetable peeler
Juice squeezer
Large saucepan with lid
Colander
Pan stand
Fork
Metal spatula
Measuring jug
Wooden spoon
Jug
Large serving plate

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan or gas mark 6.
   Prepare the chicken
2. Check the weight of the chicken and work out the cooking time. Sometimes this is written on the label.
   If not, allow 20 minutes per 500g, plus an additional 20 minutes. So a 1.5kg chicken will take 1 hour 20
   minutes to cook. Check there are no giblets inside the chicken, if there are remove them.
3. Place the chicken in a large roasting tin. Cover the chicken breasts with the rashers of bacon to keep
   the meat moist during cooking.
4. Chop the lemons into quarters. Put 2 pieces and half the fresh herbs (if using) into the open end of the chicken. Tuck the rest of the herbs and 2 more pieces of lemon around the chicken. If using dried
   herbs, sprinkle them over the chicken.
5. Drizzle the whole chicken with the olive oil and the juice from another piece of lemon. Add black pepper to taste (if using). Put in the oven and set the timer for your calculated cooking time.
   Prepare the roasties
6. Peel the potatoes and chop into quarters. Boil for 10 minutes. (This is parboiling). Drain in a colander. Rough up surfaces with a fork.
7. If using, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into similar size chunks to the potato.
8. 50 minutes before the chicken is done, add the potatoes, sweet potato (if using), unpeeled garlic cloves and remaining pieces of lemon to the tin. Squeeze juice from one of the lemon pieces over them all and add black pepper to taste (if using). Return to the oven.
9. When the time’s up, check that the chicken is cooked. Pierce with a knife. The juices must run clear – never pink. Cook for longer if you need to. Rest the cooked chicken on a plate in a warm place for 10 minutes with the lemon bits and garlic.
10. Turn the potatoes using a metal spatula. Return to the oven on a higher shelf and turn up the temperature to 220°C/200°C fan or gas mark 7 so they are crispy. Cook for another 10 minutes.
    Prepare the gravy
11. Remove the cooked potatoes from the roasting tin.
12. To make the gravy, pour 600ml of water into the roasting tin. Sit it on the hob. Boil it for 3–4 minutes while stirring and scraping any sticky bits off the bottom of the tin. Add black pepper to taste (if using). Pour it carefully into a jug. Skim off any excess oil with a spoon before serving.
13. Serve the chicken and potatoes at the table on a large plate. Carve with a sharp knife. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins. Serve with your choice of vegetables and gravy.

Skills used include:
Measuring, peeling, chopping, squeezing, boiling/simmering, roasting and serving.

Top Tips

• For a vegetarian version put 1 x 15ml spoon of olive oil in a separate roasting tin and preheat in the oven. Add a share of the parboiled potatoes and put the tray in the oven at step 8. Serve with a main such as Cauliflower Cheese (recipe available on our website).
• For really tender meat, let the chicken rest somewhere warm for at least 10 minutes, whilst you cook your vegetables.

Something to try next time

• Don’t like bacon? Rub olive oil over the chicken to keep it moist and season with lemon and black pepper to taste. Spoon the juices from the chicken over the breast (baste it) a few times during cooking.
• Parboiling potatoes for roasties makes them crunchier on the outside and fluffier inside. But potatoes will roast well enough from raw as long as the oil in your tin is hot enough.