Herby Citrus Roast Chicken
A juicy roast chicken for a Sunday lunch is just perfection. I personally love the zestiness in the chicken from the citrus, using all the fresh garden herbs that I can find, and the sweet carrots that soak up all the flavour.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
4 tbs salted butter
1 sprig of rosemary
1 handful each of parsley, basil, and thyme (or sub 1 tsp dried herbs for each)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
1 orange
2 lemons
4 large carrots
1 head of garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cornstarch
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Wash and finely chop all of the herbs.
Wash the citrus to remove any wax, then zest and juice both of the lemons and the orange. Don’t throw the squeezed citrus halves away.
In a small bowl, add the butter, chopped herbs, orange & lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper, then mix well until combined.
Peel the carrots and cut them into large pieces.
Cut the head of garlic in half lengthways.
Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, then rub the butter mixture over the chicken and also under the skin (this will make the chicken moist and full of flavour).
Place the carrots and garlic halves into a large oven tray. Drizzle the olive oil over and toss to coat well.
Place the chicken on top of the carrots. Stuff the chicken cavity with one half of the garlic and one each of the squeezed orange and lemon halves. Place the remaining squeezed citrus halves around the carrots in the tray.
Cover the chicken with aluminum foil to prevent the herbs from burning, then place the tray in the oven.
Roast the chicken for 1 hour, then remove the foil and continue roasting for another 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove from the oven and place the chicken and carrots on a serving dish. Sprinkle the chicken with some flaky sea salt and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
There will be lots of beautiful juices at the bottom of the pan, so let’s make a jus from this.
Take the citrus and garlic out of the chicken and squeeze all the citrus halves (also those from the pan) to get any remaining juices out, then throw away the halves.
Remove the garlic cloves from the garlic house and use a fork to mash them into a paste and mix it with the pan juices.
Pour the juices into a small pan (ensuring to also scrape in any caramelized bits), then set on medium heat to simmer and reduce.
Make a cornstarch slurry by placing the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cold water and stirring until dissolved. Pour this into the pan and stir until slightly thickened and the jus coats a spoon.
Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed.
Serve the chicken with the roasted carrots and jus. Enjoy!