Roast Chicken w/Rosemary & Veg

22nd Nov 09

Roast Chicken for lunch on one of the Sunday last month. We were surprised the chicken tasted so good, so juicy & tender even though it was a frozen chick. Most people has a wrong concept on frozen chicken but if it's thawed properly and thoroughly, it's taste as good as fresh one. Always immense the frozen meat in water till it's thawed. Same as thawing turkey where we usually need to soak the whole frozen turkey w/the wrapper in a pail of water overnight to thaw it. Get the marinate ideas from Chef Yong's recipe and adjust it to my liking.

The vegetables tasted so good as it's absorb the rich flavour of the chicken. Serve the chicken with the sauce from the roasting and some baked vegetables as the side. It's a perfect main course and I'm going to do it again for X'mas.

Ingredients:
Chicken - 900g to 1kg
Carrot - 1 (cut into wedges)
Onion - 1 (cut into wedges)
Leek - 2 stalks (cut into 3-4 cm length)
Potatoes - 1 (cut into wedges)
Rosemary - 2 sprigs
Whole garlic w/skin - 6 cloves (smashed)
A slab of chilled butter

Marinates:
1tsp Salt
1tsp Coarse ground black pepper
1tbsp Dijon coarse mustard
1tsp Chopped garlic
2 sprigs Chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp Extra virgin oil
1/2tbsp Smoked paprika powder
1 lemon zest

Methods:
1. Mix all the marinate together and spread it all over the chicken. Marinate for an hour. Then stuffed the smashed garlic & 2 sprigs of rosemary in the cavity and seal it with a toothpick.
2. Line the baking tray with foil. Grease with some oil.
3. Lay the carrot, onion, potatoes & leek on the base, season with 1tsp soya sauce, 1/2tbsp olive oil & pepper. Toss well.
4. Place the marinated chicken on top. Top with a slab of butter.
5. Baked at 200 degree C (preheated oven) for 20-25 mins. Turn the chicken when the top is brown and continue baking till cooked.
6. Turn the oven to grilling mode at max speed when the chicken is cooked to brown the skin till crisp. Take about another 10 mins. So total baking time should be approx 30-35 mins and also depends on the size of the bird.