Two Roast Chickens

Two Roast Chickens

 The best piece of culinary advice I ever got from mum was ‘why roast one chicken when you can roast two’ and this Christmas I’m roasting these two beauties instead of one cumbersome turkey.

The birds get a good fingering under the skin and then we make a fresh herb butter which is massaged onto the breasts. They’re drenched in wine and placed breast side down in the roasting tin for the first blast and then flipped over for the last bit to get golden, thus insuring moistness where needed.

And if all that innuendo isn’t enough to get your juices flowing into a luscious gravy then quite frankly, I can’t help you!

• 2 x 1.5kg (3lb 3oz) free-range chicken (medium)
• 1 large onion, sliced into wedges
• 2 celery sticks or fennel bulbs chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, left whole and unpeeled
• few sprigs each of rosemary and/or thyme
• 150ml (5fl oz) white wine
• salt and freshly ground
• black pepper

For the herb butter:

• 200g salted butter, softened
• 1 tsp chopped rosemary
• 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley – chopped
• 1 tsp chopped thyme

YOU WILL NEED

large roasting tin

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F/ Gas 4).

2 Spread half of the onion wedges along with all the celery, carrot, and garlic over the bottom of the roasting tin. Place the two chickens on top of the veg, breast-side up. Stuff the rest of the onion inside the cavity along with a lemon wedge and the rosemary and/or thyme sprigs.

3 To make the herb butter, mix all the ingredients in a bowl until combined. Slide your fingers gently under the chicken skin to separate it from the breast. Take half of the herb butter and push it under the skin in an even layer, then spread the rest over the top of the chickens.

4 Turn the chickens over so they’re breast-side down. Season the bottom of the chickens with salt and pepper and pour the white wine into the tin. Place the chickens into the oven and roast for 1 hour, then remove from the oven.

5 Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6). Using two forks, turn the chickens over, breast-side-up, and pop them back in the oven for a final 30 minutes, or until the skin is a glorious golden brown. To check the chicken is cooked, gently pull one leg away from the body and puncture the flesh in the crevice between the leg and the breast – the juices should run clear. If it’s cloudy or a little bloody, then put the chickens back in the oven for a further few minutes.

6 Once the chickens are out of the oven, cover them with foil and a tea towel and set it aside to rest for 15 mins whilst you plate up the rest of the meal.

For more Christmas recipes, check these out on Dom in the Kitchen

Eat and of course, enjoy!