Contributed by Metal Fem
This is my mother's, and grandmother's, roast chicken recipe. I've cobbled together the instructions from my own experience and a handwritten note from my mother. The Evil Twin and Zebee probably have their own spin on it courtesy of their mothers.
The recipe pre-dates the period in Australian history when we became a culinary fusion nation with malarky like "thai roast beef" and "tandoori pizza". Not that I'm knocking the demise of meat n' three veg mind, but this recipe is the first thing I reach for when it comes to nostalgia dinners.
You have to use an organic free range bird for this. Otherwise, you won't get it the way it tasted coming out of the oven in a central Victorian gold fields hamlet somewhere between 1930 and 1978.
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Take out the neck and give it to the dog along with the giblets, if a. Wash chook and leave to drain. Remove and keep fat pads (those white chunky flaps hanging off near its arse).
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Use a well seasoned or non stick fry pan and fry the onion and herbs in the butter until onion is soft and herbs are fragrant. Add cubed bread. Stir until slightly crisp but still moist. Add more butter if you need to. Take off the heat when done.
Stuff chook and eat pieces of the bread while you go. My partner's kiwi mother used to seal up the stuffed end by shoving a lemon up its business. She also used to put a beaten egg in with the stuffing. I'm not fond of the egg, but I use the lemon sealing method now because I'm lazy, err, because it's more efficient! My mother used to use strong sewing thread to seal up the end and keep the legs together. You could also use metal skewers.
Grease the roasting dish. Choose a roasting dish you can put on the stove top later to make gravy with. I usually have the chook fat from our last roast saved in the fridge, but if you don't, a reasonable olive oil will do fine as a substitute.
Put the chook in the dish, rub oil/fat on it, place the fat pads on the breasts and cover the chook (with foil if you don't have a closed dish). Place bird in oven, reduce heat to 375 F.
After the chook has been cooking for half to three quarters of an hour it's time to add the veggies. You can time "cooking time" from when you hear first hear sizzling.
Arrange the veggies around the chook in the pan and thoroughly baste them in the cooking juices - another reason to buy organic. Pop the lot back in the oven and leave for an hour. Then when almost cooked, take off the lid/foil and brown your chook and potatoes.
Once the chook is cooked - you can tell by poking it at the thickest part of the thigh and seeing if the juice runs clear - turn the oven off, take the chook out and put it on a warmed plate to rest.
Take the veggies out of the baking tray and put them on another warmed plate and cover with a tea towel. If the potatoes are still looking pale, make sure they're well basted, then blast them in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes to crisp them up. Pay attention tho', you don't want them to turn to carbon.
Drain off the chook fat into a container and leave it to cool before putting it in the fridge for next time. You will then have the juices left in the pan with which you can make gravy.
Slowly add water and about 3/4 of a tablespoon of plain flour over a moderate heat until gravy thickens. If you did use a less than optimal chicken despite my admonishments, add some chicken stock or gravy mix with the water to boost the flavour of the gravy. Season with salt and pepper. If too thick, add water. If too thin, simmer longer.
While you're doing this, if you want some green vegies, steam or boil them as you would normally.
My mother used to use the water she boiled the beans and carrots in to make the gravy, but there I draw the line at heritage, because for her cooking veggies meant boiling the bastards until they were a tragic shadow of their former selves. Still if you want to be authentic, boil carrots and string beans until they are a travesty, and then use the water from this to make the gravy.
Once you have finished the gravy you are ready to serve.
Pour gravy into gravy boat, carve chook, dish up crispy brown potatoes and veggies and scooped out stuffing, and enjoy. Pick at the leftovers out of the fridge at 11pm while cradling your 4th glass of wine. Eat left over cold roast potatoes for breakfast.
Oh, pav or trifle for dessert if you can stand it.
This page last updated 08/192003/