RECIPE INSPIRATION

5 ROAST CHICKEN RECIPES TO MAKE YOU RETHINK YOUR SUNDAY ROAST

By Sam | 01 May, 2020
These 5 remarkable roast chicken recipes show that roast chicken need never be boring.

ROAST CHICKEN

Roast Chicken remains one of my undisputed favourite meals. A single bird, when roasted correctly, brings so much. Whether you prefer the simple purity of a breast, the unctuous, flavour-packed thighs and drums or the unashamed glee of nibbling around a wing - there’s a lot of joy to be had from a single bird and a trip into an oven for an hour or two.

Now I am a huge advocate for a simply roasted chicken - salt and pepper, perhaps some oil or butter. They’re all the ingredients required to let your chicken really sing, and let’s face it, as long as the skin is crispy and the meat is juicy, it’s all you need. Nostalgia is a term that gets thrown around a lot, often as an excuse for stale ideas and rehashes. However, in this instance, I feel it fits. This is how I grew up eating roast chicken, and I’m sure it’s a comforting memory familiar to many, worthy of any table.

However, this is certainly not the only way.

A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES

Roast Chicken is a regular in our kitchen, but by no means am I looking for those wistful, nostalgic memories each and every time I’m considering light or dark. Perhaps I want some heat and excitement of chilli, the comforting embrace of heady spices, the zing and punch of citrus and garlic. Maybe I want unashamed excess with brown butter and truffle or the sweet and savoury moreishness of honey and mustard. The real beauty of chicken is in its ability to carry flavour. Perhaps of all the traditional subjects of roasting, the chicken feels a veritable blank canvas - capable of donning a seemingly endless array of flavours and guises.

The great tragedy of the simple roast chicken is overexposure. It’s a wonderful crowd-pleaser, unlikely to draw any exception. However, it is precisely due to that familiarity that roast chicken has at times generated a sense of an easy out. You can hear it in the tone with which many a host replies with ‘Roast Chicken’ to the question of what’s on the menu. All too often there is the ring of an excuse about it - the safe choice. An easy-pleaser, unlikely to ruffle any feathers, the chicken’s included.

Well, we’re here to change that. We’ve got 5 recipes to reinvigorate your classic roast chicken and help get those creative juices flowing for many more. The next time you declare ‘Roast Chicken’ it will be with a smug sense of self-assurance that the chicken you will be serving will be far from boring.  
Cumin Roast Chicken with Chickpeas

CUMIN ROAST CHICKEN AND SMASHED CHICKPEAS

This continues to be one of our most successful and treasured hosting meals – Cumin is one of my most beloved spices. It is used extensively in some of my favourite cuisines and works tremendously well with roast chicken - the rich, heady spice perfuming the bird. However, the real treat in this recipe are the chickpeas beneath. Roasting the chicken over the chickpeas allows them to absorb all those wonderful juices and flavour from the chicken as they cook - Smashed with lots of fresh herbs and lemon it’s a beautiful alternative to the usual sides served with your roast chicken.
RECIPE HERE

THE GENTLEMAN’S ROAST CHICKEN

This refined and stately chicken embraces the oh-so-English Gentleman’s Relish. To those unfamiliar, Gentleman’s Relish is a lightly spiced anchovy paste, popularised in the 1800s to be eaten on toast in much the same way you might Marmite. It is also an absolute flavour bomb, especially with roast meat. When used as a seasoning in this roast chicken, the fishy taste of anchovy melts away leaving only a strong, salty, umami-rich morishness boosting the flavour of the chicken in much the same way fish sauce is used in Asia. Trust us, this takes your roast chicken to all new heights. And if you’re still erring, there's bacon gravy...
RECIPE HERE
Anchovy Butter Roast Chicken
Peruvian Roast Chicken - Pollo a la Brassa

PERUVIAN ROAST CHICKEN (POLLO A LA BRASA)

A Peruvian staple and revered dish. Originally a simple rotisserie-cooked chicken, such was the love of this dish, that it has since evolved into a ‘Secret Sauce’ marinated whole chicken grilled to perfection over charcoal. Our own version features a sweet, sour and spicy Aji Amarillo marinated spatchcocked chicken and a tangy green sauce that will unashamedly be proclaimed the real star of the show. A real lip-smacking variation to your classic roast chicken.
RECIPE HERE

SATAY ROAST CHICKEN

In this twist, we have combined the wonderful aromatic satay peanut sauce to your classic Roast Chicken with a wonderful flavour-packed marinade. The Chicken, which we’ve spatchcocked and halved, is golden, aromatic and intensely flavourful whilst the satay sauce makes for a rich and unctuous alternative to gravy. Served with a quick-pickled salad, this makes for a stunning, summery twist to your Sunday Roast.
RECIPE HERE
Satay Roast Chicken
Rotisserie Chicken at Home

FRENCH ROTISSERIE STYLE ROAST CHICKEN

That's right, it is possible to recreate something very similar to the lip-smacking-good rotisserie chicken at home, without the aid of a rotisserie! By skewering the whole chicken and suspending the bird above a deep roasting tray or casserole dish, you allow for plenty of air circulation and even cooking. The rotating can be a little fiddly, but the results, however, are something truly special.
RECIPE HERE

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