Sunday Roast Chicken

Sunday Roast Chicken

⏱ 2 hours 🍽 4 serves

The skin becomes stained glass—translucent, golden, catching light as it crisps in the oven's heat. Beneath, the meat transforms through wavelengths of temperature: from raw pink to opalescent white, each degree splitting proteins into tender, juicy fibres. Butter and herbs refract through the surface, penetrating deep into the flesh. This is Sunday rendered luminous, the bird split by heat and time into its most glorious spectrum. When you pull it from the oven, it glows.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Remove chicken from fridge 30 minutes before cooking to bring to room temperature.
  2. Pat the chicken completely dry with paper towel. Stuff the cavity with lemon halves, garlic halves, and thyme sprigs.
  3. Rub the butter all over the chicken skin, getting into every crevice. Season very generously with salt and pepper—this is crucial for crispy skin.
  4. Toss the potatoes, carrots, and onion with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread in a large roasting tray.
  5. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, breast-side up. Roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you pierce the thickest part of the thigh and the skin is deeply golden.
  6. Halfway through cooking, baste the chicken with the pan juices and give the vegetables a stir.
  7. Remove chicken to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Rest for 15 minutes before carving.
  8. While the chicken rests, return the vegetables to the oven to crisp up for 10 more minutes. Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted vegetables and any resting juices poured over.

Nutrition

450
Calories
38g
Protein
25g
Carbs
24g
Fat