Jamie Oliver's Lemon Roast Chicken

The lovely Jesse, SIL and I had a second cook-out yesterday. This time we had Lemon Roast Chicken and Mocha Java Cakes for dinner and dessert respectively.

I've used Jamie's recipe over the years whenever a roast chook is called for and have never regretted it. It remains to this day one of the best recipes I've ever made with spot-on results.

Preparation for dinner and dessert started at 7pm after Jesse arrived with the shopping. As usual there was a lot of chatting going on during the prep so by the time we sat down to dinner it was well past 9pm!

Still, well worth the wait (as you cannot hurry a good roast) as we were rewarded with a scrumptiously moist and succulent dish. (gobble, gobble) We finished dinner on a sweet note of very molten Mocha Java Cakes (more about that later) and a deliciously crisp, sweet Alice White Moscato.

I toddled-off to bed very tired but happy last night... and am sure the rest did too!

JAMIE OLIVER'S LEMON ROAST CHICKEN

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

2kg Chicken

Sea Salt

Black Pepper, freshly ground

Olive Oil

1.5kg Potatoes, peeled

1 large Lemon

8 cloves Garlic

1 handful fresh Thyme

1 handful fresh Rosemary sprigs, leaves picked

8 rashers Smoked Streaky Bacon

Rub the Chicken inside and out with a generous amount of Sea Salt, freshly ground Black Pepper and Olive Oil. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the Chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it for lunch or dinner.

Preheat your oven to 190 Celsius.

Bring a large pan of Water to the boil. Cut the Potatoes into quarters, put them into the Water with the whole Lemon and Garlic cloves. Cook for 15 minutes until Potatoes are done. Drain into a colander and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier Potatoes), then remove the Lemon and Garlic.

Toss the Potatoes and Rosemary in the colander while still hot so their outsides get chuffed-up and fluffy – this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast.

While the Lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times.

Take the Chicken out of the fridge. Push the Garlic cloves, the whole Lemon and the Thyme into the cavity, then put the Chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes.

After the 45 minute mark, remove the Chicken from the oven. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the Potatoes and Rosemary in the fat and arrange them at the side of the Chicken.

Lay the Bacon over the Chicken breast and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the Chicken is cooked and the Potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the Chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.)

Serve immediately with a nice cool Salad.

Claypot Chicken Rice

Claypot Chicken Rice is one of Malaysia's favourite hawker dishes. It's cooked in little claypots over a roaring fire, and has a lovely crusty bottom with succulent tender chicken pieces that steam with the rice. Mouthwateringly delicious.

The recipe I picked for Jesse and I to cook is from The Food Canon. After the success I had with the Char Siew recipe from the website, it's the first place I looked for Claypot Chicken Rice.

We took our time cooking this dish, stopping in between the cooking process to have a cuppa and snack on pineapple. We were richly rewarded in the end with a fabulous dish that sated our hunger. We rounded-off the meal with our Portuguese Custard Tarts and more tea.

CLAYPOT CHICKEN RICE (for 2-3 pax)

Adapted from The Food Canon

Preparing the Meat

About half a Chicken (800g - 1kg)

2 tablespoons Light Soya Sauce

2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

2 tablespoons Chinese Wine

1 teaspoon Sugar

200ml Water

Cut-off and set aside the back bone, feet and less desirable parts for the stock. Cut the Chicken into small pieces, bone-in and skin-on. In a bowl add the rest of the ingredients and leave the Chicken to marinate for an hour.

Preparing the chicken stock

Add the pieces for the stock into a small saucepan with about 3 cups of water. Leave to simmer for about an hour.

Cooking the Rice

2 cups of Thai Jasmine Fragrant Rice

2 cups of Chicken Stock, strained

Add the Rice into the claypot. Add an equal amount of Stock into the pot. Be careful to keep to the 1:1 rice:liquid ratio. Cover and cook the pot on low flame for 10 minutes or until the Rice is cooked, i.e. the liquid has been absorbed and the Rice is fluffy.

Cooking the Meat

2 pieces of Chinese Waxed Sausages, sliced thinly (optional)

A little Salted Fish (optional)

As the Rice is cooking, slice the Waxed Sausages. When the Rice is cooked, open the lid of the pot and put the marinated Chicken pieces on top of the Rice. Stick to one single layer to ensure even cooking. Add the sliced Sausages on top and little pieces of Salted Fish into the pot. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

Preparing the sauce and garnishing the pot

Spring Onions

2 Red Chillies (optional)

1 tablespoon Dark Soya Sauce

For the Sauce

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Light Soya Sauce

1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese Wine

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

A little White Pepper Powder

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl. About 2 minutes before the pot of Rice is cooked, drizzle in the Sauce. Chop the Spring Onions and slice the Red Chillies. At the 25th minute mark, it should be done. Depending on the strength of fire and type of pot, the timing may vary, but it is easy to see to check whether the meat is cooked.

Just before you serve it at the dining table, drizzle in the Dark Soya Sauce, add the chopped Spring Onions and cut Red Chillies. When eating, give the Rice a stir first and scrape some of the crusted Rice at the bottom. Serve with with a dipping sauce of cut Chilies in Light Soya Sauce.

Easy peasy chicken soupy

There's nothing better than chicken soup to soothe a cold. My Aunty Lan believes it, my mum believed it and I do too. 

It doesn't have to be a fancy-pants sort of soup - mine certainly isn't - but it does have to provide one thing... COMFORT in capital letters, for that's the one major thing anyone who has a cold needs. Then comes WARMTH and RELIEF.

I made this last week for my aunt, who had a cold and I made it again for myself this afternoon because I was craving it. Who says you have to have soup only when you're ill?

It's lovely eaten on its own or with plain rice. It's especially good on a cold, rainy day (we've been having a lot of those lately) with the peppercorns adding bites of heat in the mild soup.

Every family has a comfort soup like this. What's yours?

CHICKEN SOUP - my way

1 small Fresh Chicken (whole)

2.5 litres Water

2 inches fresh Ginger (sliced)

6 cloves Garlic (crushed)

1 medium Red Onion (sliced)

1 Carrot (cubed)

2 medium-sized Potatoes (cubed)

20 Black Peppercorns (whole)

Pinch of Turmeric

Coriander (finely chopped)

Salt to taste

Wash the Chicken. Remove fat and skin. Cut away as much of the meat as possible, leaving only a little on the bones. Wash the bones and set aside. (It is the bones that you will be using.)

Put a pot large enough for the soup on medium fire. Put in Ginger, Garlic and Onions. Heat through until you get a fragrant smell.of spices. Do not let it burn. Add Water, Bones, Carrot, Potatoes and Peppercorns. Add Turmeric.

Cover the pot three-quarters of the way with a lid and boil for 1 hour, skimming any impurities that may rise to the surface.

Salt to taste. Remove from fire and sprinkle the coriander on top. Serve hot.