The Times Magazine - UK (2022-05-21)

36 The Times Magazine

Roast ChiCken

thRee ways

A roast chicken might be one of

the simplest dinners to make, but

that doesn’t mean getting it right

is easy. For a “succulent and

golden” bird, Diana Henry pot-

roasts a whole chicken with milk,

garlic and bay leaves. Marcus

wareing swears by poaching

the chicken in water for

40 minutes to make a

stock. He then blitzes

together olive oil,

parmesan and

almonds, which

he rubs all

over the

chicken before

roasting it for

45 minutes. nigel

slater and nigella

lawson use the classic

French method that

calls for 40 – yes,

40 – cloves of garlic.

They place the bird in

a casserole dish with

fresh new-season garlic

plus vermouth and stock and

cook for an hour or so.

Jamie oliver follows

a more traditional

recipe, roasting his

chicken with chopped

veg, a glug of olive oil

and a lemon.

MoRoCCan

Preheat the oven to 180C

(200C non-fan). In a bowl mix

together 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground

coriander, 1 tsp sweet paprika,

½ tsp cinnamon, zest of 1 lemon

and 50g soft unsalted butter.

Using your hands, spread half the

spiced butter under the skin of

the chicken and the rest over the

top. Put the lemon inside the

cavity and roast for 1 hour until

crisp and the juices run clear.

Rest for 10 minutes and serve

with coriander and chilli flakes.

fRenCh

Preheat the oven to 180C (200C

non-fan). Rub 50g butter over

the skin of the chicken. Prick a

lemon with a fork and put it in

the cavity with garlic, rosemary

and thyme. Roast in the oven for

1 hour until crisp and the juices

run clear. Rest for 10 minutes.

Heat the garlic and lemon in the

chicken’s juices with a large glass

of white wine. Serve with

potatoes and lemons.

italian

Preheat the oven to 180C

(200C non-fan). In a bowl mix

together chopped rosemary, 70g

chopped prosciutto, 50g butter

and the zest of 1 lemon. Using

your hands, spread the butter

under the skin of the chicken

and any remaining over the

top. Roast in the oven for 1 hour

until crisp and the juices run

clear. Rest for 10 minutes. Serve

with roast peppers, tomatoes

and olives.

How to roast a chicken – by the experts

ReCipes Hannah Evans

photogRaphs Romas Foord

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