Roast Chicken

I tried to capture the essence of a classic Sunday Roast Chicken, but with a little more finesse and a few extra ways of cooking the roast to normal. The added pea puree and light chicken jus rather than a thick gravy added a delicate element to what is usually a rustic dish. Plus it tasted great!!

Ingredients

2 Free Range Chickens

4 slices of prosciutto - Baked in oven till crisp.

4 cups peas

4 carrots

1 cup white wine

2 cups good chicken stock

handful of thyme

olive oil

butter

4 potatoes

2 lemons

2 Garlic cloves

Salt

Pepper

Method

Make sure the chicken is dry, cut off the wings, cut the tips and first joint off the wing and reserve for the sauce. Using a knife push the meat down the bone of the wing until it looks like a meat lollipop!!! Set them aside in the fridge. Now cut the thigh and legs from the chicken and separate the legs from the thigh. Thighs can be frozen for use on another day! In saucepan cover the legs with oil and heat it to 85ºC, and cook them for about 40minutes. Turn heat off and leave them in the oil for another 1/2 hour. Then refrigerate. The breasts, still on the frame of the chicken will be roasted on the crown. Stuff the cavity with thyme and lemon, and push butter, thyme, salt and pepper under the skin of each breast. Start cooking in a large pan on the cooktop, browning each breast and then sit up in the pan and put into the oven at 180ºC for about 20 minutes. Throw the garlic and reserved wing bones into the pan to roast as well.

Cut carrots and potatoes into small triangular wedges, or squares if you like! Make sure you choose a nice waxy potato that will hold its form! Boil Potato and carrot. Put potato in first and once cooked take out and throw carrot into the same water.

Boil peas until tender, reserve 1 cup, puree the rest in a blender, Season as required. Take the Chicken out of the oven and cover. Reserve the roasting pan with its juices!! In another frying pan brown the confit chicken legs and the potato pieces and on a griddle pan grill the wings. Once the legs and potatoes are browned put them into the oven to heat through.

Using the roasting pan, deglaze with white wine and add stock, turn the heat up and reduce until it thickens a little. Strain and add some butter and season as required [you might get some extra juices while carving the breast and removing it from the frame, add these to the sauce]. Heat the reserved peas with the carrots and strain.

Plating just requires you to lace all the elements as you see them in the photo above. Smear the puree, put the three pieces of chicken across the plate, and scatter the peas, carrots and potato. Drizzle over the sauce and scatter with fresh thyme sprigs. Don't forget the crispy prosciutto!

It sounds pretty complex but it is worth it....