Sunday Roast Chicken

Golden Sunday Light

Sunday afternoons smell like this: butter melting into golden skin, thyme releasing its woodsy perfume, lemon softening into sweet collapse. A whole chicken, bronzed and beautiful, is not just food—it's a ritual, a pause, a gathering. Roots and tubers nestle around the bird like wildflowers around a garden stone, drinking in all that savoury goodness. The oven does the work. You do the resting, the talking, the being. Two hours pass like a gentle breeze. Then you carve, and the house fills with that ancient, comforting truth: good things take time, and time spent well is never wasted.

Ingredients

1.8kg whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
6 sprigs fresh thyme
60g butter, softened
800g potatoes, cut into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and halved
1 onion, quartered
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C. Pat the chicken completely dry with paper towel, inside and out.
Stuff the chicken cavity with lemon halves, 3 garlic cloves, and half the thyme. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.
Rub the entire chicken with softened butter, then season generously with salt and pepper.
Toss potatoes, carrots, onion, and remaining garlic in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread in a large roasting tray.
Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Scatter remaining thyme over everything.
Roast for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes, until the skin is golden and crisp, and the juices run clear when you pierce the thigh.
Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Serve with the roasted vegetables and pan juices spooned over the top.

Wildflower