Roasted Chicken with lemon, garlic & parsley by Angela Seah Thulin

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  

Just a simple pre-Christmas meal together. Roasted chicken, brussels sprouts served with pan fried potatoes with thyme and green salad. And what is a Christmas revelry without log cake? So...I baked a chocolate ganache log cake.

Using Gordon Ramsay's recipe from his roasted turkey video, however i used chicken instead. This is pretty easy to do yet yummy. Despite the long hours roasting in oven, the chicken breast meat remains tender and juicy with crispy skin...

Part (A) Ingredients 
1.4kg free range chicken
1 Big yellow onion, halved
1 Lemon, halved
5 dried bay leaves
Olive oil
Bacon 6-8 slices
salt and pepper

Part (B) Lemon, garlic, parsley butter 
120g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
few dashes of dried parsley

Steps -
1. Rub the chicken with salt, wash away and pat dry the chicken.
2. Prepare the part B in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Season the chicken cavity with generous amount of salt and pepper.Then stuff cavity with onion, lemon and bay leaves.
4. With your hands, loosen the skin on the breast and other side so that you can stuff the part B into it. Make sure you keep the skin intact. Repeat the steps to the legs and both side of the body.

Point 4

Ex. spread the butter mixture all over

Preheat oven to 220degree celsius. 

5. Use the part B to rub gently on the outer skin of the whole chicken. Season with some salt and pepper again.
6. In a big roasting tray with olive oil, place the chicken with breast side up. Drizzle some olive oil on the chicken.
7. Into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Baste the chicken with the juices from the tray. Then covered the breast with bacon. Baste with juices again.
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 180degree celsius and cook for 1.5hrs. (Every 1/2kg chicken at 30minutes.)
9. Check that your chicken is done by inserting skewer at the thigh/legs and that the juices run clear. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Pour the balanced juices with the lemon, garlic, bay leaves to a small pot and cook it a while or you may serve it like that. Done.

After the first 10 mins in oven. Point 7

Done after 1.5hrs

Link to the Gordon Ramsay's video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I93nany8nQI

Note -
1. Every oven temperature varies. I baked my chicken at 165 degree celsius for 1hour 35minutes.
2. I stuffed the balanced butter mix into the cavity :)

Brussels sprout and Potatoes

Recipe:

http://platepalate.blogspot.se/2014/12/chocolate-ganache-christmas-yulelog-cake.html