Lady Lunchalot

Roast chicken is one of my favourite things to cook and to eat. A baked chook filled with stuffing has to be one of the most beautiful sights ever seen.

Unfortunately I’m always so excited by the prospect of eating a roast chicken that I’ve never managed to take a half decent photo of any of the chickens I’ve cooked, so my pics never really do justice to one of my all time favourite dishes.

On Saturday, I roasted two chickens. One was a weight watchers friendly version, with slices of lemon and sprigs of fresh parsley tucked between the skin and the breast, and a quartered lemon placed in the cavity with some herbs. The slices of lemon are a handy way of protecting the breast meat from drying out.

The other chicken was a little more decadent. Ok, a lot more decadent. I mixed a cardiac-arrest-inducing amount of butter with garlic, fresh parsley and tarragon and stuffed spoonfuls of it it under the skin on the breast. The herby butter melts throughout the chicken as it cooks, crisping up the skin and keeping the meat deliciously moist.

I also made a great stuffing, inspired by Paul’s excellent stuffing recipe that I tasted about 4 or 5 years ago and have never forgotten. Thanks for giving up your secrets Paul!

Sautee a finely chopped onion with a couple of rashers of chopped bacon in another wodge of… butter. *Gulp*.

Mix a cup or two of breadcrumbs with some thyme, crushed garlic, sage and fresh chopped parsley. Mix in the onion and bacon, a sprinkle of pine nuts and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix in enough water to make it clump together, and then stuff it into the cavity. I like to overstuff the bird a bit, as it makes it look more plump when it comes out of the oven.

Don’t tell anyone, but I also had a leftover nugget of garlic butter so I buried it in the middle of the stuffing inside the chook.

Ooooh, my poor hips.

I’d planned to roast my two beeyootiful birdies on the rotisserie in My Wonderful Ilve, but with the all those veggies in there as well, I’d run out of room. So I popped them straight on to the oven rack with a pan underneath to catch all the juices.

Ok, ok, I also made gravy from the drippings. But I only ate a spoonful of gravy. I promise.

*Double gulp*.