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Who doesn't love a glorious whole roast chicken?

I used to think that everyone could do it but was really sad to hear recently that plenty of people don't know how and would rather buy a pre-roasted. But they honestly don't taste nearly as good and it's a cheap meal that can go a long way.

Everybody's roast is different.

My granny's was horrible, all grey and stringy, my mum does hers Chinese style.

I buy my Chickens from Millawa in Victoria. They have a farm gate in Melbourne and sell at markets. Their chooks roam freely are hand raised in the Ovens Valley of Victoria, fed a diet of mixed grain, pasture and spring water, chemical and hormone free, sustainable and Slow Food.

I smother my chicken with lemons, branches of fresh lemon thyme, olive oil and season with local Murray River salt and toss a cut lemon into the cavity. Sometimes I push the seasonings under the skin on the breast too.

I roast it in a hot oven at 220 degrees on it's tummy first 20 mins with a couple of tablespoons of chicken stock and then flipped onto its back another 30 mins. After it's cooked I take it out and stand it in a mixing bowl with the breast down so that the juices run down into the chest to keep it moist. I let it rest covered with foil while I make the gravy.

To make gravy I deglaze the roasting pan on the stove with some home made stock, scraping all the dried meat juices into the mix. Sometimes I'll splash in white wine and thicken either with flour mixed into melted butter or some arraroot. When I'm ready to carve the bird I pour any juices that have come out into the mixing bowl, into the gravy. YUM!


What's your favourite roast chicken recipe?

I get my chickens in my back yard. I 'process' them myself. It's very, very important to me that I don't waste anything...and moreso now that I know my dinner on a personal level.

Anyroo...I brine them first. Gallon of water, T. salt, T. sugar, overnight. Then bring them out, put some citrus and some onion (big chunks) in the cavity...but loose, not stuffed, for good heat circulation. Sprigs of herbs go in there too.

I put garlic and fresh herbs under the skin sometimes...sometimes not. It truly depends on my mood, the season, what we're having.

I roast breast-side down under a cover until we're about 30 min. from done, then I remove the cover, flip the bird over, dust with chopped herbs, salt and cracked pepper so the skin is crispy, brown, tasty, etc. I like to use a higher heat, quickly, and take the bird out when it's almost done....and let the residual heat finish the job. It's juicier that way.

I discard (compost) the onions/citrus/herbs from the cavity - they always seem pretty used-up. The chicken comes out really nice, and there is this super-strong, rich sauce in the roasting pan. I thin that down and either use it to cook rice or to make a sauce....or I drizzle it over roasted winter vegetables.

nummy!

I got as many roast chook recipes as I've had... well.. roast chooks!

Simplest?

Whack a rough cut orange in the cavity and pour some juice and OO over the bird. Cook on high for 15 min and then med for a further hour or so.

Most excellent gravy comes from the pan juices, too BTW.

Sadly, I am the only fan of stuffing in my house, so I don't stuff very often, but I use a variety of herbs (whatever is fresh from the garden.. oregano, thyme, pizza thyme, rosemary, thai basil)

And a mash of garlic and butter poked under the skin is an old fave, too.

I can't find a supplier of your much-touted Millawa chooks in GW, so I get the La Ionica ones from the local butcher.

My mama was on a really restricted diet as we were growing up while she figured out her Chronic Fatigue and Allergies.... chicken was off the list for many years so I didn't grow up knowing the roasted chook so well. For a long time to have a full body on the table kind of freaked me out.

Since then, and now making my own home and family that I cook for, I buy Ionica Roasted Chooks from an exclusively Ionica Charcoal Chicken shop in Hawthorn.

I have been making the most delicious stock from these chooks with lots of herbs from the garden, garlic and ginger.. this stuff goes into everything... noodle soup, mashed sweet potato and pumpkin... I think I am a chook stock addict at the moment.

You've all perked my interest however and I am looking forward to giving these bird recipes a go.

I do our roasts in the webber. I squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the skin, salt and pepper,a little drizzle of olive oil. Pop the rest of the lemon inside with a smashed clove of garlic or 2, a nd handful of fresh thyme or rosemary for the herb garden. Cook breast up, toss in some spuds to bake with it and serve with yummy salad. Yummo!

I don't know if it's a favourite (yet) but it is sensational. It's a Jamie Oliver recipe from happy days with the naked chef. I actually made it this week.

You brown the (seasoned) chicken skin in oil and butter, then drain the excess oil and leave any sticky crispy bits in the pot. Put the chicken back in the (snug) pot. Chuck in 10 whole garlic cloves, 1/2 cinammon stick, handful of fresh sage leaves, zest of 2 lemons, 2 cups milk and pop it in the oven. Every now and again baste the chicken with the saucy stuff.

The lemon zest kinda curdles the milk so you get these nice yogurt-y bits.

My fav chicken isn't really a roast, well it starts as one, but I finish it on my little wood fired rotisserie.

I usually make a sauce out of smokey paprika, garlic, olive oil, tomato sauce, rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Sometimes some orange zest and orange juice squeezed into it. Or cream. Make long cuts along the bird, about 1 cm deep, and rub the sauce all over and into the meat.

Roast it for about 45mins to an hour depending on its size. Then spike it onto the spit and put it on a slow rotation, keeping it moist by slathering the sauce (now full of the juices) all over the chicken. When cripsy serve it up. There's usually room to put the pan of sauce/juice on the fire as well, and I add some red or white wine and stir it up until it thickens a bit, and use a gravy.

I usually do this when I've got a bunch of mates around, and we all have a go at it, the drunker we are the longer it stays on the spit for haha. I dont think we've ever used a knife and fork when eating either, its just torn off the bird and heaped onto plates and eaten with fingers, so make sure you have plenty of napkins.

sounds fantastic.

I roast my chicken in a benchtop convection oven.

I cut a medium onion and a lemon into quarters and stuff them into the cavity. Then I put the chook (I always use free range) into the oven upside down and squeeze some lemon juice over the bird and cook for 30 minutes at about 200 degrees (at least that's what is says on the dial, I do not believe it, I think it's probably about 180 or less). Then I flip the bird, squeeze some more lemon juice over it, cook for another 30 minutes, squeeze some more lemon over it again, then cook for another 30 minutes.

Seems like a long time which is why I don't believe the temperature dial. The chicken always comes out moist and juicy - the lemon inside really helps here and the juice makes the skin crispy and very tasty. I find that this method seems to render most of the fat from the bird, without making it dry.

It tases simply delicious, just like the chook me ole mum used ter make...