This Little Pig has a dark secret from it’s past. Once when this porcine was young, it arrived home all alone to discover a roast chicken on the table with a note from it’s mother saying that it was for this fine swines afternoon tea. Not long after, This Little Pig’s mother arrived home to find the entire chicken eaten and this piglet licking it’s greasy chops and rubbing it’s full stomach. Words such as “you absolute pig” and “of course I didn’t mean the whole chicken” may have been floated around – luckily however This Little Pigs mum is very good at forgiveness and the matter was soon forgotten.
This Little Pig is revealing this dark past to highlight how much this fine swine enjoys a good roast chicken and not so you can all judge how one small year 6 could fit an entire chicken in it’s belly. This recipe is the absolute winner of roast chickens and it really is rather simple, like most roast chickens. So roll up your festive sleeves and give this delightful chicken a go on the chrissi table this year, it is going to stun you into silence.
Feeds: 4-5 Hungry Piglets (depending on the size of the chicken you get)
Prep Time: 15 Mins. Cooking Time: 1.5 Hrs (passive/sleeping whilst it cooks)
Ingredients of Roast Chicken Gloriousness:
1 x Free Range Chicken (this little pig had a 2.5 kg one)
100g x Butter
15g x Thyme (a 50 cent piece width handful)
1 x Garlic Bulb (yes a whole bulb piglet)
2 x Lemons
2 Tbs x Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper for scrunching everywhere
Method of Roast Chicken Gloriousness:
- Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
- Pull your chicken out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking to allow him to warm a little so he will cook evenly.
- Pat your chicken dry with paper towels, all over and inside - this helps the skin get nice and crispy.
- Slice one of your lemons into thin circles.
- Skin and finely dice 3 of your garlic cloves.
- Pull the leaves off ¾ of your thyme stems – save the rest for later.
- Take your butter (soften him on top of the oven first if need be) and in a bowl mix together with your diced garlic, thyme leaves and a good scrunch of salt and pepper (about ½ -1 Tsp).
- Now gently slide your finger underneath the skin of the chicken near his bottom (don’t be awkward about it) and gently lift the skin from the bird.
- Try and do the same with the drumsticks.
- Now take your butter infusion and gently smother it under the skin – leave a tiny dollop and rub it all over the outside of the chicken too.
- Use your hand to massage it in, so it is even and all over the chicken.
- Now take one of your lemon slices and gently slide it under the skin, repeat on the other side and fit as many as you can under there (This Little Pig went for 2 on either breast).
- Take a fork and skewer your other lemon several times then pop it in a small bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds. Now pop the hot lemon in the chickens bottom with the leftover thyme and give the garlic cloves a good smack with the knife and add them too.
- Give the whole chicken a good drizzle of your olive oil (2 Tbs) and a generous scrunch of salt and pepper then pop him in the oven for 20 mins or until he is a nice rich golden, then reduce him to 180 degrees for 20-40 mins – depending on your oven until cooked through.
- Once ready, (you can tell this by poking a knife in and the juice that runs out should be clear) take him out and cover him with foil but make sure to leave a little hole for the steam to escape so he doesn’t lose his crunchy skin.
- That’s it piglets, the most glorious of chickens. Chop him up into pieces, scatter him over a lovely platter, pour the juices over the top and serve him with a delicious gravy and some crunchy potatoes like these ones HERE and a lovely green salad like the one HERE or this one HERE. Merry Christmas piglet! Oink!
